A Nigerian medical doctor based in the United States, Matthew Bernard, and his wife, Lynn Warner, have been ordered to pay nearly $1m in fines for cutting down dozens of protected trees around their property in Oakland, California.
According to reports by California-based media outlet KQED, the decision followed a public hearing where residents urged the Oakland City Council to enforce the city’s tree preservation laws.
More than 20 residents reportedly attended the hearing on Tuesday, insisting that the trees played a vital role in wildfire prevention, environmental protection and public health within the community.
Bernard and Warner had earlier defended the removal of the trees, saying the action was taken on the recommendation of an arborist.
Addressing the council during the hearing, Bernard said the trees removed from the Claremont Avenue property about four years ago were either “dead, dying, leaning” or considered hazardous.
However, city authorities disagreed with the explanation and imposed a fine of $915,135.40 on the couple.
The council also placed a claim on the property, preventing the owners from selling or developing it until the penalty is fully settled.
Defending the decision, a community tree specialist, Erys Gagnez, said the environmental damage caused by the loss of the trees could not be easily reversed.
“Trees of that size are not commercially available for replacement. Even with replanting, it will take decades, even centuries, to restore the ecological and protective functions that were lost,” Gagnez said.
