Our local forests have far fewer oak trees than were present in the 1800s and yet, of all our native trees, the oak tree is ...

On Sunday, the tree looked as though it was already dead — its gnarled branches a charcoal-black silhouette against a sullen sky. The battle-scarred bur oak silhouetted against the sky.

An Inland Empire city has approved a development project within 450 feet of the third oldest known living organism in the world — a sprawling, shrub-like oak tree that is more than 13,000 years old.

The Bur Oak, a landmark at the Lincoln Park Zoo, was about 300 years old. Before it was chopped down, people lined up to say goodbye. Cuttings from the tree are being nurtured into saplings.