Tribute to Fallen Oak Will Be a Chip Off the Old Block

ENCINO — After weeks of debating how best to memorialize the much beloved 1,000-year-old Lang oak tree, a special committee decided Wednesday to return a slice of the downed landmark to its former home and plant other trees at the site in the hope that they might one day grow as majestic.

A slice of the 8-foot-thick oak will be preserved and mounted on a strip of green in the middle of Louise Avenue just south of Ventura Boulevard, said Ellen Stein, president of the city’s Board of Public Works.

Additionally, three small oak trees--which arborists believe will be strong enough to fight off a fungus that sickened the Lang oak--will be planted, as well as a sycamore or two and one maple tree. The fence that was erected to protect the Lang oak will be torn down.

“It will be beautiful,” Stein said of the site. And “within a few weeks, it should be done.”

The Lang, which rose to seven stories and shaded much of the block, had been ailing on and off for several years, but local schoolchildren raised money to pay for special care, and the giant hung on much longer than many had believed it could. But on the night of Feb. 7, lashed by a fierce El Nino-driven storm, the tree finally fell.

The cost of the Lang tribute, which is not expected to top a few thousand dollars, will be covered by a fund that had been established to care for the tree. Stein said part of the cost might also be met with fines some Angelenos have paid over the years for chopping down rare oak trees without municipal permission.