One of Santa Monica's nicknames is "Tree City U.S.A." so it's no wonder trees are serious business there. While one pursuit is turn the seaside city into a giant, functional arboretum, currently the city is asking their residents to chime in about "replacement trees" designated for their residential streets as part of SaMo's Urban Forest Master Plan. more ›

At a February 9th meeting, the Pasadena City Council voted to go ahead with their over ten-year-old plan to remove 43 ficus trees from streets in the area, particularly many on Colorado Boulevard that share the land with popular local businesses. more ›

Earlier this month the Pasadena City Council voted to approve a plan to "remove 43 mature trees from along Colorado Boulevard-as well as side streets between Lake Avenue and Los Robles Boulevard" and replace them with younger trees that would cause less damage to city sidewalks. more ›

Earlier this morning, tree activists from the group Treesavers reportedly chained themselves to ficus trees scheduled to be relocated by the city from 4th Street in Santa Monica. During the protest the Treesaver himself, Jerry 'Peace Activist' Rubin was arrested by police for "resisting or interfering with a police officer," according to Sergeant Renaldi Thruston. As of 2:00 p.m. Rubin, who is running for City Council this November, was still in custody. Treesavers believed the removal of the trees would harm them. In May, Santa Monica cut down over 20 trees on 3rd and 4th streets (see photos here). more ›

"I don't know if I'm more sad or more angry," Treesavers founder Jerry Rubin said this morning as he witnessed Santa Monica workers cut down 23 ficus trees on 2nd and 4th Street. He stood on a stump where one of the trees used to stand for over 40 years -- it only took a matter of minutes to cut it down. "We'll be back again, and we won't get caught with our pants down this time. It's sad, I feel guilty. I feel that maybe there were things we could have done more to save these trees." more ›

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Love 'em or hate em, the works of Santa Monica activists trying to block the city from moving ficus trees from 2nd and 4th Streets have been successful so far:Protesters obtained a restraining order Friday to stop the destruction of a stand of ficus trees in downtown Santa Monica that the city had planned to remove starting Monday as part of an $8-million downtown development project. Local activist Jerry Rubin got the order approved by... more ›

They're old, they're gray, they steal carbon from the air, they block the sun, they buckle the sidewalks... and they're so ridiculously green it's almost like they're showing off. They are the 50+ ficus trees who have the nerve to stand in the way of progress near the 3rd Street Promenade. And they've got to go. In order to expand the popular shopping district (once known as the Santa Monica Mall), city officials have... more ›