The removal of the Canary Island date palm at Goldfish Point is one of a few projects undertaken in the group’s infancy.
A dead Canary Island date palm came down Dec 3, courtesy of the just-launched La Jolla Coastal Conservancy, which has completed two projects in its first 100 days.
The La Jolla Coastal Conservancy is a public-private partnership in the form of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that collects private donations to carry out a number of projects to maintain and improve shoreline land from just above Coast Walk Trail southwest to just south of Whale View Point.
The conservancy is able to complete such projects more quickly than other efforts due to its securing a special use right of entry permit from the city of San Diego, with oversight from the Parks & Recreation Department.
The Canary Island date palm on Goldfish Point had been dead for some time, Coastal Conservancy board Chair Brenda Fake said, raising resident concern about an ongoing South American palm weevil infestation that has killed several other similar trees.
Obtaining permits was difficult prior to the establishment of the Coastal Conservancy, Fake said, as was waiting for a budget-strained city to remove the tree.
“With the La Jolla Coastal Conservancy’s special use right of entry permit, we were able to remove the tree to mitigate any soil damage,” she said, adding the removal was done in collaboration with the Parks & Recreation Department.
“It’s a good example of why the Coastal Conservancy’s got a permit to address these issues.”
The tree removal is the latest on the list of projects after nonprofit Friends of Coast Walk Trail’s successful launch of the La Jolla Coastal Conservancy in September, Fake said, which includes the installation of new benches at La Jolla Cove and Scripps Park in partnership with La Jolla Boy Scouts Troop 4 Eagle Scout Nate Thomson, the city’s maintenance team and arborist Erich Kast.
The Conservancy is also finishing a restoration project on the lifeguard tower at The Cove and is in the planning stages for projects to renovate the Whale View Point stairs and post and chain.
For more information or to donate, visit lajollacoastalconservancy.org.
