Palm Springs council to vote on stripping skirts from 2,150 iconic fan palms; land trust urges tree-by-tree approach
Garrett Hottle
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) The Palm Springs City Council on Wednesday will consider a plan to remove the natural skirts from roughly 2,150 California fan palms on city property a proposal city staff say is needed to protect public safety, and one a local land trust says would permanently change the look of Palm Springs and destroy wildlife habitat.
Under the proposal, skirts, fruit pods and trunk material would be removed from the city’s California fan palms in pedestrian areas over the next four years at a cost of about $300,000, according to the city staff report.
The report says falling skirts the collars of dried, dead fronds that hang beneath a palm’s crown can weigh more than 1,000 pounds and pose a danger to pedestrians and tree workers below. It also says the dead fronds harbor roof rats and cockroaches, which can carry disease.
In a public alert to supporters, Oswit Land Trust is urging the council to reject the citywide approach in favor of a tree-by-tree, risk-based management plan. The Palm Springs-based nonprofit says the skirts provide habitat for owls, bats, birds and other species, and that the staff report gives little consideration to those ecological benefits.
The group has also said the city conducted no public outreach or workshops on the issue, which first appeared on a council agenda in July 2024. When a similar policy came before the council that year, members postponed a vote and opted to seek additional public input.
The trees at the center of the debate are woven into the city’s history. In 1949, City Councilwoman Ruth Hardy persuaded the city to plant hundreds of fan palms along Palm Canyon Drive as part of a major downtown renovation trees that were dedicated in a ceremony that fall and still line the street today. Ruth Hardy Park in Palm Springs bears her name.
The city’s own report acknowledges Palm Springs is known for one of the world’s largest collections of heritage California fan palms in their natural state. A 2009 city resolution deliberately preserved the skirts on the city’s California fan palms, allowing only light shearing for clearance.