Re: Fort Rodd Hill returns to nature, B次元官网网址, April 6, 2012.

In your April 6, issue an official of Fort Rodd Hill park describes spending taxpayerB次元官网网址檚 money to B次元官网网址渞evertB次元官网网址� a field to a B次元官网网址淕arry Oak meadow.B次元官网网址�

But Garry Oak B次元官网网址渕eadowsB次元官网网址� are not natural. According to the environmentally-oriented magazine Focus and other sources, such meadows were created and sustained by human use of fire to clear underbrush, promote the growth of edible plants such as camas, and encourage edible animals.

Left alone, Garry oaks would be in forest form, eventually replaced by other species that grow better in our wet climate, such as Douglas fir.

Garry oaks here may be near the northern limit of their viable range B次元官网网址� they are plentiful in Washington, Oregon, and California, where they are referred to by names such as Oregon white oak. (Both Garry and Eastern white oaks are in the B次元官网网址渨hite oakB次元官网网址� subgenus.)

Keith Sketchley

Saanich