May 2016
Another Chapter in our “Cautionary Tales” Book: It seems as though we have been relaying cautionary tales quite frequently. Exactly a year ago, and even more recently, we warned of the unstable nature of More Mesa’s cliffs and the heavy erosion that takes place, not only after rain, but even in dry weather. There is no doubt that the record-breaking drought we have been experiencing is the source of many of the issues we have already discussed. Now another weather element has entered the picture to complicate and exacerbate the situation even further … WIND!
As we have described, More Mesa’s trees have been severely stressed with the drought, especially non-natives like eucalyptus. For example, the trees at the southeast corner have been especially hard-hit as they have no accessible water at all. In addition eucalyptus have extremely shallow root systems, and topple so easily that they are known as “Widow Makers”. Add to this the fact that, of late we have been experiencing consecutive days of heavy winds, many with gusts up to 40 mph. Coping with these conditions is difficult enough for healthy trees, let alone those that are severely compromised. We have already lost two of our giant trees, as well as many large branches of standing trees, to the heavy winds of the past 2-3 weeks.
We don’t want to lose any of you! Please go out and enjoy this place that is still incredibly beautiful … despite the drought. But do not linger under these big trees … especially when it is windy … or has been windy for several days. It is both risky and courting danger. Enjoy More Mesa, but please stay safe!
