We have finally received an assurance from the city council's office that no trees in Carmel Valley will be removed - or even trimmed - until we have our meeting with SDG&E and the Community Planning Board in January! A bit of a relief, as it means the trees are safe - for now, but we still need your help! If no one complains to SDG&E, they will assume we are OK with the plans and chop down these 75 large, healthy, mature trees - including endangered Torrey Pines!! This will not only cause all of our home values to drop but will dramatically impact the appearance of our neighborhood and the surrounding ecosystem for decades to come! If you are still opposed to the deforestation, clear cutting and tree removal in San Diego, now is the time to make your voice heard! The most important thing you can do is email and call the following 3 people and tell them you are against it and would like SDG&E to consider alternate options besides clear cutting (such as anchoring the trees together with a cable or topping selected trees in a manicured way, for example). I've left e-mail examples below, but feel free to tweak to make it personal*: Greg Peck (SDG&E) Email - gpeck@semprautilities.com Phone - 619-405-8120 Michael Daleo (SDG&E) Email - mdaleo@semprautilities.com Phone - 858-654-8630 Barbara Bry (City Council Member for Carmel Valley) Email - barbarabry@sandiego.gov This is THE most important thing that you can do! Next month I will take all your signatures and comments to our final meeting with the Community Planning Board and City Council Members, who will decide the next best steps along with the citizens. Feel free to CC me on your emails to SDG&E and the city at: taramackey@me.com. The more of this information I have next month, the better. Here is an interesting fact for all of the homeowners: U.S. Forest Service did a research study which showed that homes with mature trees and neighborhoods with mature trees have 7-20% higher value than homes without mature trees. Same applies to businesses: businesses on tree lined streets earn up to 20% more revenue than businesses on streets with no trees. It's simple: if you'd like to keep the trees, please contact the 3 people above ASAP. It should only take a few minutes and will mean so much to the future of the City of San Diego. We thank you for your continued efforts to help us fight the good fight and SAVE THE TREES! *Here is a sample email: Dear Greg, Michael and Barbara, It has come to our attention that SDGE plans to clear cut 75 of our precious trees, including endangered Torrey Pine trees, in Carmel Valley. I am a homeowner in San Diego, California and am strongly opposed to the plan to clear cut 75 mature, endangered trees in my area. It has taken these trees 50+ years to grow and any solution that involves clear cutting or replacing these trees with new growth trees is not only unsafe to the ecosystem, but highly detrimental to our tax and property rates. Please reconsider other options such as manicured top cutting or anchoring the trees. We care deeply for these trees. They are endangered and literally the rarest native pine tree in the United States. I have signed a petition to stop this and intend to protect our community quality, our property values and our daily landscape. Thank you. Sincerely, [Your Name]