What: A media availability to announce the culprit responsible for the death of thousands of coastal oak trees and to explain how the public can help prevent the disease from spreading. When: 1:30-2:30 p.m. Monday, July 31 Where: China Camp State Park, four miles east of San Rafael in Marin County Visuals: UC Davis professor of plant pathology David Rizzo will report his findings in a thick, mixed grove of dying and healthy oak trees. He will bring laboratory samples of the culprit that attacks the trees. Using a map, Brice McPherson, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley, will discuss the geographical distribution of the syndrome. Background: For five years, a mysterious disease named Sudden Oak Death has been killing coast live oaks, black oaks and tanoaks on the California coast. A tree bleeds black or dark-red sap, its bark becomes spotted with black and its leaves turn brown. Beetles quickly infest the tree, and the tree dies within a few weeks. The disease may affect oaks from Santa Barbara to Mendocino; Marin and Santa Cruz counties have been hardest hit. The Marin County Board of Supervisors declared a state of emergency recently and asked the governor for $3.1 million to help fight the problem. The issue is particularly urgent because the dead oak trees pose an extreme fire hazard. They could also rot and fall on power lines, roads or buildings. The death of the oak forests also harms the many plants and animals that share the oaks' habitat and rely on them for food. Rizzo is a member of a universitywide research team assembled about six months ago to tackle the problem. The team includes specialists in entomology, pathology, remote sensing and monitoring, urban forestry and field ecology. Rizzo identified the culprit at work in the death of the oak trees. He will present his findings and offer future directions for research. The professor also will explain how the public can help stop the spread of the syndrome and how homeowners should deal with the problem in their own back yards. Rizzo also studies the role of pathogens and insects in shaping forest ecosystems in the Lake Tahoe and Yosemite areas. Directions and Parking: From Highway 101, go east on North San Pedro Road for five miles until the road enters the park. Turn right at the sign for the Back Ranch Meadows Campground. Proceed beyond the kiosk and park in the first dirt lot to the right. If that lot is full, park on a North San Pedro Road shoulder pullout near the kiosk. The availability will be held west of the large paved parking lot. China Camp State Park charges a $2 fee per vehicle.