At 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, a valley oak labeled with spray paint as No. "124" fell to the earth with a mighty thud.
It wasn't the first tree to fall, nor was it the last.
The 60- to 70-year-old oak was one of 148 trees that Sacramento County is under court order to remove from county land alongside the privately owned Rancho Murieta airport. With the trees gone, the airport will be allowed to let night landings resume.
As the chain saw paused, Rich Sizelove, a county parks supervisor, muttered that it was a sacrilege to cause tree No. 124 to creak and then slam to earth.
"Think about what it does to our environment," he added.
The trees being removed over the next week or so include oaks, cottonwoods and walnuts between the airport's lone runway and the Cosumnes River. The affected trees are among more than 800 on 76 acres that the county acquired in 1979.
"Our concern was not (just) with losing the trees, but losing the habit," said Jill Ritzman, a deputy director of the county parks department.
Valley elderberry bushes surround many of the trees. The bushes are host to the threatened valley elderberry longhorn beetle.
The county has yet to determine how it will mitigate for the lost habitat. Ritzman said the chain saw crew is doing its best to not disturb the bushes.
The project is not only ecologically sensitive, but time-sensitive, too.
The county had to first confirm that the nesting raptors, such as the Swainson's hawk and Cooper's hawk, were out of the area, and then face an Aug. 15 deadline to avoid a $1,000-a-day fine for being in contempt of a court order to remove the trees.
The county's action ends a years-long fight between the airport and state and federal officials. The county had sought to protect as many trees a possible.
Courts have sided with the airport. Airport officials said they don't want to see trees cut, either, but they want a safe airport.
Art Negrette, an attorney for the airport, said only the trees required to be removed from the airspace by the federal rules should be cut.
Simply abandoning night operations wasn't an option, Negrette said, because state officials also threatened daytime landings as well.
"These trees violate federal, state and county standards," Negrette said.
Trees along the approach, landing and beside the airstrip pose a major risk to pilots, especially young aviators learning to deal with crosswinds, Negrette said.
"We've lost a lot of tenants because they say, 'You're not a full-service airport,' " he said.
Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.
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