The beautiful groves of majestic trees planted by the Serra monks nearly a century ago are a marvel to behold. As a resident of Serra, I am saddened that Roy Van de Hoek, who you reported last week was arrested for cutting trees, would so easily destroy our California heritage. His belief system that he is alone in knowing which trees God wants on this earth is typical of the extremism of radical environmentalists who have little in common with traditional environmentalists.
The “native plants only” theory forced upon us by the Coastal Commission, John Wall, the Malibu Township Council and extremists like Van de Hoek is based on the arrogance of men who believe they know what a perfect ecosystem is. The fact is they don’t. In turning the ecological clock backward, they take a genocidal approach to the contemporary ecosystems of the Santa Monica Mountains. Today, for example, the area has more mountain lions, bobcats and coyotes than there were 25 years ago. For generations, bounties were placed on these animals, leading to their decline, yet people like Van de Hoek foolishly blame the palms, pines, eucalyptus and thousands of other plant types, setting out with a vengeance to kill them.
I’m sure you will receive letters from fringe biologists whining that new species are pushing out old species. In comparison to pre-settler days, Malibu’s plants have tremendously more water now and there are many new varieties. The fundamental principal of biological evolution is change. If these scientists can’t handle that, they should leave science and go into history.
Nancy Werbin