The oldest living organism in California is neither a dinosaur nor one of its iconic redwoods: it is a small oak shrub that survived the most recent Ice Age.
Despite its resilience, the Jurupa oak is now in danger of going the way of the dodo, due to devastating wildfires and a 900-acre development currently being considered.
The plan, called Rio Vista Specific, would build more than 1,600 new housing units right on Jurupa’s natural habitat.
Environmentalists have described the 1.4-square-mile development as the biggest threat to the tree since it became extinct nearly 12,800 years ago.
This tree is estimated to be between 13,000 and 18,000 years old, making it older than almost any other plant on planet Earth.
Despite its resilience, the Jurupa oak in Southern California is now in danger of going the way of the dodo, due to devastating wildfires and a 900-acre development now being considered.
The plan, called Rio Vista Specific, would place more than 1,600 new housing units right in the heart of Jurupa’s natural habitat, as seen here.
“The main thing that strikes me is that we’re literally seeing a little bit of what the world was like in the Ice Age,” UC Riverside scientist Andrew Sanders said of the unassuming shrub in an interview with ABC 7 in 2009, when he and other scientists first calculated the tree’s impressive lineage.
“In this case it is not necessary to look at a fossil, but we can see the living individuals.”
That said, most of the tree is underground, and what is visible is only the crown of an ancient tree that is about 90 feet long and 30 feet wide.
The collection of shrubs sits atop a hill overlooking the Jurupa Valley, just a stone’s throw from the desired construction site.
The Planning Commission of Jurupa Valley, a city of 100,000 people, is on the verge of approving it, so thatThe rocky ravine an hour east of Los Angeles is more habitable.
The site’s developer has said it plans to protect the tree, but environmentalists, already concerned about damage caused by increasing wildfires in the region, remain skeptical.
Aaron Echols, conservation chair of the Riverside-San Bernardino chapter of the California Native Plant Society, told ABC and The Washington Post Construction could prove fatal for the Jurupa oak.
“It’s unique among most things on the planet,” he said of California’s oldest conifer. “We need to be absolutely sure we’re not going to cause any harm to it.”
Environmentalists have described the 1.4-square-mile development as the biggest threat to the tree since the extinction event nearly 12,800 years ago.
This tree, which is actually underground and only visible through these bushes, is estimated to be between 13,000 and 18,000 years old and is older than almost any other plant on Earth.
“The main thing that surprises me is that we’re literally seeing a little bit of what the world was like in the Ice Age,” UC Riverside scientist Andrew Sanders said of the unassuming shrub in an interview with ABC 7 in 2009, when he and other scientists first calculated the tree’s age.
Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra, professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis, added:‘It’s kind of a philosophical question,’ citing the difference between the system of what is essentially a plant and more traditional trees.
Unlike normal trees, he said, the tree will generate new, genetically identical shoots from burned stumps, none of which will have any of the original tree’s tissue.
“If I have a tree in my backyard and I cut it down and a stem grows back from it, I would generally think it was the same tree,” he said of the resulting ethical predicament.
“But if you do it 10,000 times in a row, is it still the same tree?”
Meanwhile, the shrubs, despite having been in the Southern California sun for more than a millennium, were only identified in the 1990s by local botanist Mitch Provance.
However, it took nearly two more decades to calculate the tree’s immense age, making it the fourth or third oldest organism in the world.
While perhaps a suitable setting back then, the rocky ridge today overlooks a series of warehouses and horse trails, and is a common site for off-road revellers.
One resident, Jenny Iyer, told the Post she does not approve of the project because of the tree’s history.
Tim Krantz, conservation director for the Wildlands Conservancy, added that the tree receives sustenance from groundwater seeping through nearby hills, which will be covered with asphalt and concrete if the plan goes ahead.
The site’s developer has said it plans to protect the tree, but environmentalists, already concerned about damage caused by increasing wildfires in the region, remain skeptical.
“We have discovered a world-class treasure here in our humble town,” he said of the shrub whose leaves may once have been grazed by sabre-toothed tigers.
‘Will one of the oldest living things on the planet die just because Jurupa Valley approves industrial and business parks next to it?’
Tim Krantz, conservation director for the Wildlands Conservancy, added that the tree receives sustenance from groundwater seeping through nearby hills, which will be covered with asphalt and concrete if the plan goes ahead.
This could stop the flow of groundwater, he said, potentially killing the tree forever.
The developer, Richland Communities, continues to insist that this is not the case and promises it will take thorough steps to ensure the tree is protected.
“Not approving the project does not protect the tree,” said Jeremy Krout, a representative for the company, at a recent meeting.
“If the project is not approved, there will be no protection, there will be no one responsible for protecting the tree.”
He has vowed not to build within 200 feet of the last remnants of the tree, which Echols reiterated Wednesday has already been ravaged by wildfires in recent times.
Aaron Echols, conservation chair of the Riverside-San Bernardino chapter of the California Native Plant Society, also said this week that construction could prove deadly for the tree, which he said has already been devastated by wildfires.
The tree is not far from cities like Los Angeles and Valencia, the latter of which was seen during the historically bad wildfire year of 2021, when 8,835 fires were recorded across the state.
“It represents resilience and perseverance,” Krantz added of the ancient oak. “It has survived fires and droughts and ultimately climate change. And yet here it is, despite all of that, much like the poor people of Jurupa Valley, just trying to survive.”
In the meantime, the developer has pledged to keep construction equipment 259 feet away from the edge of the tree and to turn over the land immediately around the tree to a nonprofit, along with a $250,000 endowment to protect it.
Amid these wildfires, California’s largest insurer, State Farm, recently asked the California Department of Insurance to allow them to raise home insurance rates for millions of people or face the possibility of having their coverage pulled from the state.
The move signals a growing insurance crisis in California, fueled by the increasing risk of weather-related disasters and wildfires fueled by climate change.
However, State Farm was the first to reject the concept of automatic coverage in the state, which was subject to 7,127 fires in 2023.
That was slightly lower than the previous year, when 7,667 fires ravaged California, a relatively “quiet” year according to officials in terms of area.
In 2021, a total of 8,835 fires were recorded in California, one of the worst years on record.
“It’s really mind-boggling that we have this treasure that’s not protected,” Planning Commission Chairwoman Arleen Pruitt said at a recent meeting in defense of the Jurupa oak.
“It represents resilience and perseverance,” Krantz told the Post. “It has survived fires and droughts and, ultimately, climate change.”
‘And yet here she is, despite everything, very much like the poor people of the Jurupa Valley.
‘I’m just trying to get by.’