The Northwest Voice

First and foremost, I would like to thank you for an outstanding publication that I look forward to reading on a regular basis. I have a question that I am sure you can find the answer to. Why did RiverLakes Golf Course remove so many of the almond trees that they had previously saved? They have replaced the trees with other types of trees but it will be some time before they reach the maturity of the almond trees that were removed. I cringe whenever I see seemingly healthy trees removed. I know there must be other readers who would like to hear the answer.

Robert Sheldon

Thanks for your kind words about The Voice, Robert!
The Links at RiverLakes Ranch Web site at www.riverlakesgc.com gives the history of the course. It notes that RiverLakes Ranch, completed in 1999, stands on what were once fertile cotton and vegetable fields. Those fields gave way to almond orchards and then housing developments.
It makes mention of the trees saved by RiverLakes:
"Today, this Ronald Fream masterpiece stands out as the best use and reuse of natural resources for a golf course in the Central Valley. Over 200 mature almond trees were saved and replanted to blend in with the golf course and mingle with Canary Island pines and California redwoods."
So what happened? The Voice called RiverLakes to get an answer.
"The almond trees were getting diseased and infecting all of the other trees," said Billy Bunch of RiverLakes. "In their absence, we planted various types of other trees."
For more information, call RiverLakes at 587-LINKS. 587-LINKS.