URBAN FOREST MASTER PLAN - Laserfiche WebLink

46 | CITY OF PLEASANTON URBAN FOREST MASTER PLAN CONTEXT Founding and Development In the mid-1800s, as agriculture took over, some marsh and wetlands were drained via a series of modified channels. The City was officially founded in 1894 and was a thriving community by 1900. By 1912, few wetlands remained in the Pleasanton area. Most trees grew along edges of the canals and written accounts document that most remnant oaks visible on historical aerial photographs (Figure 2-2) occur at such low densities that the area was best classified as grassland (SFEI 2013).The City likely lost additional trees growing in the grasslands as these areas were converted to ranching, dairy farms, hop fields, and vineyards. In the 1930s sand and gravel mining became an important and profitable industry, which likely would have impacted riparian trees and vegetation. Pleasanton experienced a large population boom in the 1960s and 1970s, resulting in a conversion of much of the agricultural land to residential and commercial land uses, and beginning the establishment of the City’s urban forest. Another important event was the construction of the 850- acre Hacienda, a large business park, in the 1980s, which was built on old swampland, and established many trees in this important economic center of Pleasanton. Figure 2-2. Historic photograph of Pleasanton showing scattered oaks and other trees Source: San Francisco Estuary Institute, 2013