ENCINO PLANTING FUTURE SYMBOLS; COMMUNITY PICKS 5-TREE TRIBUTE FOR HISTORIC LANG OAK.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

No single sapling is enough to memorialize the majestic Lang Oak, a committee of community and city officials has decided.

Instead, three young oaks, a sycamore and a California red maple will be planted in the Louise Avenue median where the 1,000-year-old Lang Oak stood until it toppled in an El Nino storm two months ago.

The death of the San Fernando Valley landmark continued to be mourned by many people, even outside the neighborhood.

``It's been very dramatic. They feel like a best friend has died. It's amazing that one tree has touched so many people,'' Stephanie Leabitt of the Encino Chamber of Commerce said Friday.

The planting is not expected to take place for a few weeks, partly because some Encino residents are still so distraught that they need more time to cool off, she said.

``They're waiting until people can settle down their emotions,'' Leabitt said.

The committee has also voted to let city crews slice three hefty cross-sections from the trunk for use in commemorative displays, including one to be mounted in concrete on the Lang Oak median.

Smaller chunks of the wood will be given to the Encino Chamber of Commerce, library and other community organizations, if requested. And local schools will get the rest for resale at fund-raisers.

Of the two remaining large slices, one will be placed at nearby Los Encinos State Historic Park. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County will take possession of the third so scientists can gauge the tree's age and later use it in a display where the rings will be correlated to key moments in Southland history.

``The idea is to see if we can't use that as a focal point and a time-line reference,'' said Don Reynolds, the museum's curator of botany.

Since the tree fell, a group of about 20 residents, tree experts and street maintenance officials have been meeting regularly in the field office of Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski to find a way to memorialize the fallen oak.

``You could say it's a lot of effort going into a tree,'' said Cheryl Weaver, a field deputy for the councilwoman. ``But they want to know what's going into the median - they don't want it paved over - and they want to know what's going to happen to the (remains of the Lang Oak) afterwards.''

The hulking stump of the Lang Oak remains safely ensconced in a city storage yard to protect it from scavenging souvenir hunters.

In coming weeks, street maintenance crews are expected to plant three small oaks, a sycamore and a California red maple in the median at Louise Avenue and Ventura Boulevard, she said.

This project will be paid by the Save Our Oaks fund that community members established to care for the Lang Oak and other oaks in Encino, Weaver said.

The committee shot down several other proposals, such as planting a mature oak at the site because it, too, might fall prey to the soil fungus that weakened the Lang Oak.

Also rejected was a suggestion that the city sell pieces of the beloved Lang Oak as souvenirs. That will be left to area school kids, who helped raise money for the Save Our Oaks fund and can apply the proceeds toward their education, she said.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO The 100-year-old Lang Oak in Encino fell during a winter storm.