January 2025

ARBORIST WALK: NOT FOR TREE HUGGERS ONLY!

By Margarite Olmos
Posted: 10/29/2024

Early on a September morning, a group of 17 Villagers met LA consulting arborist, Alison Lancaster, to take a brief “walk-and-talk” along the Gabrielino Trail near the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Altadena, an event organized by Villager Jim Hendrick. We walkers are grateful to him for this memorable experience.   

For those of us who are not native to this area, the event was an introduction to a beautiful trail and the important plant life surrounding us, exploring such topics as tree identification (a topic reminding me of my Girl Scout days many, many years ago), native versus non-native trees, the protection of native trees in our area and best practices for tree maintenance for those of us fortunate enough to have trees to preserve and enjoy. We were asked to leave our pens and notebooks behind to relax and immerse ourselves in the experience. Happily, phones were excluded from the list, which I needed to keep a record of the fabulous trees we would encounter and their identification (I strongly recommend the App “Seek” by iNaturalist which is free and created by inaturalist.org).

I was initially curious about the arborist profession and what had led Lancaster to it. She explains on her website (https://www.alca-llc.com) that she was born and raised in Crescenta Valley with Angeles National Foret (ANF) as her backyard. An office job with no windows made her miserable and a course in the Wildland Resources and Forestry program at Citrus College offered the opportunity for a new environment: “Those classes changed how I observed the world around me – I revisited my old ANF spots and for the first time I noticed the incredible variation in trees and plants, the diversity of wildlife and insects they support, and the resilience that allows them to withstand fire and extreme drought. I decided then that there was no place I’d rather be than at home in Los Angeles; nothing I want to do more than protect LA’s urban and wildland trees; and no better way to do it than as a consulting arborist. Now I work each day with one goal: helping my fellow Angelenos act as stewards of their trees.”

Our first stop was to hear an introduction of the goals of the day as we observed her favorite tree, the “coast live oak,” which is also her native-tree recommendation for those who wish to plant (a tree she so admires that she has a tattoo of the same!).

Alison made a point of indicating which were the native and non-native trees in this area which is like an open-air botanical garden arboretum. One of the more surprising things we encountered was the amount of water available at the elevated level and the riparian trees that exist due to their proximity to the same. The white alder, for example, is a riparian species native to California which helps to stabilize river banks, or the tall and beautiful Western Sycamore, also native and riparian.

While walking, Villagers were reflecting on the beauty and even a few fond memories. Later, Dan Guerrero commented, “The Gabrielino Trail was my daily walking path for 20 years. The arborist was able to open my eyes to a variety of native trees and plants that went unnoticed for all those years. I still take the trail several times a month and now I find myself looking at the landscape instead of focusing on the trail. It made the walk even more enjoyable.”

We were instructed regarding the differences between types of leaves and the reasons for the arrival of non-native varieties as well as ideas about the placement of trees, their planting and pruning, disease and management. We saw and heard about the non-native Chinese elm, native and non-native willows, the native black walnut, an incense cedar, and for “dessert” we tasted a wild cherry!

Alison took her time to explain all of this in a way that demonstrates her passion for the topic and her generosity in sharing the same with others with patience and kindness. Suzi Hoge noted her appreciation, “I enjoyed exploring a trail I had not been on before. I really enjoyed Allison's enthusiasm for her topic, trees. It was fun to learn about native trees, leaf formations, and even what poison oak looks like locally.”  Adding to this, Tamanika Ivey said, “What most impressed me on the arborist walk was the way Alison showed the inner life of the trees. She really made them come alive which made me appreciate how much the trees want to live and thrive - the way they find the sun and figure out how to reach it; the way they balance their roots to stay upright or lean as needed; the way they negotiate objects in their path.”

At the conclusion, I was reminded of a long-ago verse, I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree…