In the process, the company bulldozed about 900 live oaks, the majestic, spreading trees that embellish the landscape. In perhaps the worst affront, the land was right along Highway 101, the principal road through the area. The company was pilloried by environmental groups, and it eventually agreed to plant hundreds of trees elsewhere. Jim Caudill, a spokesman for the company, said that it had uprooted only about 10 percent of the oaks, or roughly a tree and a half an acre, and some of those were dead or dying. But he acknowledged that it had been a humbling experience.
Many vineyards now leave some oaks, despite the expense and the problems they create for machinery.
And they are also good nesting grounds for the birds that keep the squirrels down. It's a plus to leave them, and we do, but we don't get much credit for that. One of the most frustrating aspects of the salamander listing for the farmers and ranchers is that the animals are so little understood. Dr. Sam Sweet, a biologist at the University of California at Santa Barbara, is an expert on them and an adviser to the government. He acknowledged that the creatures are enigmatic.