Octoberr 5, 2024 - JURUPA VALLEY, Calif.— Conservation groups sued the city of Jurupa Valley on Friday for approving a development near the world’s oldest known living oak without properly analyzing the potential threats.

In September the Jurupa Valley City Council greenlit an industrial, commercial and residential development approximately 550 feet from the Jurupa Oak (also known as the Hurunga oak), a one-of-a-kind plant estimated to be 13,000 to 18,000 years old. The approval permits construction work for an industrial and business park to come within just 450 feet of the oak.

“It’s outrageous that city officials OK’d grading and blasting to make way for industrial buildings so dangerously close to Earth’s oldest living oak,” said Meredith Stevenson, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The city didn’t factor in all the ways this development could permanently harm the Jurupa Oak and other sensitive species nearby. I hope it’s not too late to rectify this grave mistake.”

The lawsuit, filed in Riverside County Superior Court, says that the city’s environmental review for the project violated the California Environmental Quality Act by overlooking threats to the Jurupa Oak’s watershed, among other risks to the tree’s survival. The lawsuit also says the city failed to analyze and reduce the project’s wildfire risks, greenhouse gas emissions, wildlife harms, water supply concerns and other environmental consequences.

“We all want to see this remarkable oak survive for generations to come, but the approved plan bypassed the rigorous review and transparency meant to protect it,” said Dr. Nick Jensen, conservation program director for the California Native Plant Society. “CEQA exists to help us through these considerations, but the city’s actions undermine the integrity of this important public process.”

The Jurupa Oak, a member of Quercus palmeri with a common name of Palmer’s oak, is a sprawling shrub reaching nearly 80 feet in length. It is the oldest known living plant in California and the third-oldest known living plant on Earth. A coalition of Tribal, environmental justice and environmental groups have been calling on the city to create a 100-acre preserve to act as a buffer for this ancient plant while still allowing most of the proposed development to go forward.

In approving the project, the city denied the request for a larger buffer and failed to consider other alternatives that would better protect the oak and other wildlife. The site, which is in part designated by the state as a high fire-hazard severity zone, is also home to the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly, Crotch’s bumblebee, and sensitive birds like the California gnatcatcher, Northern harrier, Costa’s hummingbird and Bell’s sage sparrow.

“As the state’s oldest plant, the Jurupa Oak is an important cultural resource for all Californians,” said Dan Silver, executive director of Endangered Habitats League. “There are good solutions for both the oak and development, but we have not reached them yet.”

“The development plan covers an area of 917 acres, but under the approved plan, the oldest plant in California is to be protected by a buffer of less than 2% of that land,” said Leonard Nunney, secretary of Friends of Riverside’s Hills. “The Jurupa Oak may have survived giant ground sloths eating its leaves, but the increasing heat and decreasing water resulting from a neighboring business park may be more than it can tolerate. Surely we can do better.”

Palmer’s oak populations were once much more widespread, but its range has been restricted to cooler, higher elevations as habitats have warmed. The Jurupa oak is the only known occurrence of Palmer’s oak remaining in the entire 1,700-square-mile Santa Ana River watershed.

The lawsuit was filed by the Center, which is represented by in-house counsel, and the California Native Plant Society, Endangered Habitats League and Friends of Riverside’s Hills, which are represented by the law office of Abigail Smith.

The Jurupa Oak, which resembles a sprawling shrub reaching 80 feet in length, is the oldest known living oak in the world. Credit: Aaron Echols.