JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers EXPLANATION-Paul Friedeborn, senior maintenance supervisor for the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, oversees the work done in Frontier Park this past Tuesday. The decision by the Rancho Simi Recreation and Parks District to cut down six blue gum eucalyptus trees in Frontier Park has caused some contempt among nearby residents.

The district decided to cut down the trees after Poly Associates, the district's consulting arborist, noted that "many of the nearby very large blue gum eucalyptus trees have significant problems."

Still, the sight of the old trees being cut down Wednesday in the park on the corner of Elizondo Street and Fuller Avenue was enough to get some onlookers riled up.

"I know that a lot of people in the community are going to be very upset," said Carole Wang, a Simi Valley resident who lives behind Frontier Park with her sister.

Wang said she and her neighbors feel that the decision to cut down the trees was a hasty one, and that more investigating should have been performed.

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers BUZZ CUT-A man slices through one of the eucalyptus trees this past Tuesday with a chainsaw. "All of us really love the park and don't want to see the trees cut down for reasons that are not true. We were told that some of the trees were rotting, and I feel we need to get further proof of that," Wang said.

But according to Paul Friedeborn, the parks district official in charge of Simi's western parks, the decision to cut down the six trees and severely trim an additional seven was necessary to mitigate potential hazards.

"There was concern that we had some damage to the trees and we had had large branches come down in the past," Friedeborn said. "The report from Poly Associates indicated that we really needed to do something about it and we took corrective action as soon as possible."

The problems with the trees stem from both infectious beetles and weak growth, Friedeborn said. According to district officials, the trees were topped nearly 40 years ago, and with new growth sprouting from the old, rotting trunks, the tree is unable to support its own weight.

In a letter addressed to Simi residents near Frontier Park, Ed Hayduk, the assistant general manager of the parks district, explained that large branches had fallen in December 2004 knocking down power lines and causing damage to electrical equipment.

While the trimming will hopefully save the district money (the trimming cost $8,000 while the district had to pay in excess of $10,000 because of the 2004 incident), the true purpose of the action is to promote safety, according to Friedeborn.

"We want to limit the possibility of causing harm to people, houses and power lines," he said.

Friedeborn said that although the decision was a necessary one, it was not necessarily an easy one to make.

"There is a sentimental value to these trees. People had their kids grow up at these parks and they all recognize the trees, but because of the liability we had to do something about it," Friedeborn said.