Thanks for your help protecting Lafayette trees in 2017. The fight continues, but there have been many successes so far, including:

1. To date, NO TREES have been cut as originally planned for summer 2017.

2. Nearly 2400 people have signed the petition to stop PG&E & the City of Lafayette.

3. Residents organized a 501(c)3 charitable organization called Save Lafayette Trees, and the community has raised over $25,000 for the cause.

4. Two lawsuits have been filed. One lawsuit is against the City of Lafayette and PG&E to protect 272 trees in Lafayette. A second lawsuit is against East Bay Regional Parks to protect over 200 trees in Briones Regional Park. 

5. Some large, targeted oak trees are now protected from removal. Because the community raised many questions and concerns, PG&E reevaluated trees and property lines and found they incorrectly measured trees off the Lafayette-Moraga trail. We hope to save even more trees through reevaluation.

6. Save Lafayette Trees parallel focus on community safety has caused PG&E to plan much-needed pipeline safety improvement projects, such as covering an exposed gas pipeline on Beechwood Dr, installing the city's first automated shut-off valves, and installing updated pipelines. 

7. At our request, the CPUC is investigating to ensure PG&E is managing its Lafayette gas pipeline network in accordance with state and federal safety regulations. The report is pending.

8. Save Lafayette Trees received endorsements from highly-respected organizations including the Lafayette Homeowners Council, Mt. Diablo Audubon Society, and Sustainable Lafayette 

9. Several studies were conducted by Save Lafayette Trees showing PG&E's seeming gross inability to prioritize gas pipeline safety: 

-- Save Lafayette Trees shockingly found that PG&E's system-wide incident statistics, as reported to the federal oversight agency, ranks PG&E worst among its nationwide peers in pipeline injuries, fatalities, serious incidents, and property damage.

-- A second analysis found that 20 years of federal records showed NO reported incidences of tree roots causing damage to a gas pipeline in California. Save Lafayette Trees concluded that PG&E's $500 million tree removal initiative is not focused on the primary causes of the company's gas pipeline incidents. 

10. Bay area media supported these efforts with great news segments and articles:

-- From ­TV coverage during the a City Council meeting where many of you voiced concerns, to the Save Lafayette Trees protest at the PG&E Shareholder's Meeting, to questions of how City leadership managed to receive monies for destruction of private property.

-- East Bay Times and Lamorinda Weekly published many related articles, and printed letters of support from Lafayette residents.


We will continue the work to save more trees in 2018, and we appreciate all of your support.