California landowners who cut 38 trees in Oakland hills hit with $915,000 fine

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/california-landowners-who-cut-38-trees-in-oakland-22245228.php




The fine is perhaps the largest ever in Oakland for destroying trees.

Councilmembers Janani Ramachandran, Noel Gallo, Kevin Jenkins, Zac Unger and Charlene Wang voted for the fine. Rowena Brown, Carroll Fife and Ken Houston voted no.

Emeryville residents Matthew Bernard and Lynn Warner purchased the hillside lot behind the Claremont Hotel and Club in 2019. Two years later, city staff said the couple started felling trees without permits. The trees included native live oaks, broad-leaf maples, buckeyes and other species.

Bernard repeatedly ignored warnings that he needed permits to cut down the trees, city staff said. Some of the trees were on neighboring properties.

The couple applied for building permits to construct a single-family residence, but Oakland issued them a notice of violation of the city’s protected tree ordinance last year. When staff calculated the value of each tree — from a small plum worth $750 to a mature coast live oak valued at $95,000 — the total was nearly $1 million.

City staff say trees provide valuable ecosystem services like preventing fires, holding hillside together against erosion and debris flows, supporting biodiversity, cleaning the air and improving people’s mental health.

[sakabatou]

1. Welcome to r/treelaw!

[uncle ray]

9. not to be confused with r/trees.

if you have questions about trees, then r/marijuanaenthusiasts is what you want.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

2. More: Fife railed against what she said were racially inequitable policies, making comparisons with the drug war, mass i

https://oaklandside.org/2026/05/05/trees-illegally-cut-fine-oakland/

Bernard asked the council to resolve the matter by waiving the fine and allowing him and Warner to replant new trees after they built their home.

Councilmembers Brown and Fife wanted to find a solution more favorable to Bernard. Brown called Oakland’s protected tree ordinance “outdated” and said it felt unfair to impose such a large fine on the property owners for chopping down trees the city would likely have permitted removal of anyway.

“I believe a truly equitable approach requires us to distinguish between preventable loss and inevitable removal,” she said. She tried to get her colleagues to vote for a roughly $300,000 reduction in the fine.

Fife railed against what she said were racially inequitable policies, making comparisons with the drug war, mass incarceration and colonization, while noting that Bernard is Black and his property is located in an area where people of color were prohibited from living in the early 20th century. She supported Brown’s proposal.

[twodogsbarking]

3. Money brings out the best in people.

[erronis]

4. It would be a fun experiment to see how these people live with no money.

No gifts, no secret funds, just NO MONEY.

How many hours on the street hustling for grub would it take for them to change character? If ever?

[chouchou]

5. I'd be the Wicked-Witch-of-the-West.

We have scum here in Florida that think trees are an "Annoyance"
Usually from hell...

[irisblue]

6. Matthew Bernard and Lynn Warner are assholes

[Martin68]

7. I'm glad to see the protection of trees and the enforcement of environmental regulations being enforced. I remember

when Dan Snyder illegally cut down 140 mature trees that blocked his view of the Potomac River along his property. Interesting story because of the sweetheart deals he made and the Park Rangers that was persecuted for his role in trying to bring Snyder to justice.

https://deadspin.com/dan-snyder-killed-some-trees-and-a-park-ranger-paid-th-1494113337/

[North Coast Lawyer]

8. Entitled Rich People Held Accountable For Once

So many rich folks have a 'rules don't apply to us' attitude. Nice to see local politicians standing firm.

[DiverDave]

10. So? Gofundme?

They obviously need the extra scratch.

[Jacson6]

11. I didn't know about tree law until 1997 when a man in my neighborhood...

cut down his neighbor's tree in the neighbor's yard. He was sentenced to 6 months in jail and $31k in restitution.

[dave99]

13. Good

[Auggie]

12. Legal fees would add to that if he had retained counsel. Even better.

[Fil1957]

14. Harsh, but necessary in order to prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future.

[eggplant]

15. Hopefully he kept enough wood to make himself a tiny violin.

[flvegan]

16. Bernard...and crews he hired (including, allegedly, an arborist)...neighbor land

Ooooooh, but this is NOT the end of his problems. Those neighbors potentially have recourse against him, not sure about the arborist. Was there a survey of the property boundary?

Oh, and fuck him.

[oasis]

17. Message: Save your dime, don't do the crime.

[SergeStorms]

18. Make them tear down the home they built.....

and install wind turbines or a solar farm on the property. 😁