Sudden Oak Death Blitz

Join the SOD Blitz!

The 2023 Sudden Oak Death Blitz is coming to Napa on April 15. This will be the thirteenth year in which Napa volunteers participate in the statewide effort to map this devastating disease.  All are welcome. The SOD Blitz is educational and a day of service toward conserving our oaks.

Sudden Oak Death (Phytophthora ramorum) has killed millions of oaks and tanoaks in California. It spreads most readily in mild, wet weather. Napa’s role in the statewide effort is important for understanding how the disease spreads or retreats in various climate zones.

The Napa SOD Blitz is an opportunity to learn about Sudden Oak Death, how to assess the risk of the disease in your area and to get free testing using California bay laurel leaves from any property of your choice in Napa County. Bay laurels are the most significant carrier of the disease, which spreads in water from infected leaves into live oaks, black oaks, and tanoaks.

Volunteers interested in participating must go online to UC Berkeley’s Matteo Lab webpage to view a training video and sign up.

Volunteers will pick up sampling packets between 9:00 and 11:00 AM on April 15 at the front porch of the Napa County Ag. Commissioners Office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, and return the samples to the same location by April 17.

Professor Matteo Garbelotto and his UC Berkeley Forest Pathology and Mycology Lab lead the project, perform lab analysis of samples, conduct research, and maintain mapping of the disease. Results are posted in October for the statewide effort, which is held in over twenty locations in California.

For more information, visit UC Berkeley’s Matteo Lab webpage or contact Bill Pramuk at info@billpramuk.com.