Why did Long Beach workers cut the tops off the trees in bluff park?

The shocking sight of several barren Coral trees in Bluff Park, a place where hundreds gather regularly to practice yoga and find shade under the sprawling branches, has created a stir on social media.

Posts began circulating around Facebook on Tuesday after residents snapped shots of city workers chopping off large branches of trees and began tagging the mayor, asking him what was going on.

Mayor Robert Garcia responded on Facebook, saying he, too, was surprised and upset.

“When I saw the photo on Facebook I was both incredibly upset and saddened,” he wrote. “Those were beautiful trees and, as you know, we featured the trees and yoga on the bluff in our LB video a few months back.”

Garcia told residents that he talked to other city officials, who told him the trimming was done in an effort to save the trees from removal. Still, he said, the city did very little in the way of communication.

The City of Long Beach posted a statement on its Facebook page late Tuesday, apologizing for not providing enough notice about the tree trimming. In the statement, the city said a certified arborist made the determination to “severely prune” the trees in one last effort to save them from removal.

“These trees are dying,” the statement read. “In fact, one recently lost a huge limb prompting us to begin taking protective measures.”

“On Saturday, we put out signs under the trees educating the public that we would be trimming the trees shortly. However, we failed to do enough community outreach,” the statement continued.

But residents are still wondering why the trimming was done in the height of summer, as the city prepares for another heat wave.

Yogalution, a donation-based yoga studio that started offering free yoga on the bluff nearly a decade ago, said they may have to set up makeshift shade covers to keep classes going.

City staff will be at yoga on the bluff today at 6 p.m. to further inform the public about the work, and they will also be posting larger, more visible signs in the area.

More to come.

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