Coast live oaks have long been vital to California, supporting indigenous communities whose material cultures used oakwood and whose diets relied on acorns, but Spanish colonization introduced farming, non-native grasses, and cutting for fuel that began a long period of decline that continued through the 19th and 20th centuries as Los Angeles expanded, oak woodlands were clear cut, and habitat suffered from groundwater pumping. Today, Southern California governments increasingly recognize the trees’ cultural and natural value, and in Los Angeles removing a coast live oak without a permit is illegal. Coast live oaks on the Monrovia High School campus include four in front that were planted soon after the school was built and are almost 100 years old. The Great Encino Oak Tree, also called the Lang Oak, stood by Ventura Boulevard for more than 1000 years, was designated a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument in 1963, and after severe weakening from disease and malnourishment caused by surrounding urban density, was felled in 1998 during a large El Niño storm. Native to California and growing mainly in the western part of the state, coast live oaks are among the only California native oaks that thrive in the coastal environment, can live for hundreds of years, and are important habitat trees that provide water, food, and shelter for many insect and animal species. Their small, thick, inward-cupped leaves and downy undersides help conserve moisture in dry conditions, and their thick outer bark protects them from most low- to medium-intensity fires. They typically grow on well-drained soils of coastal hills and plains, often near year-round streams, and occur in several natural communities including coast live oak woodland, Engelmann oak woodland, valley oak woodland, and northern and southern mixed evergreen forests. The land now known as Monrovia lies within the ancestral homeland of the Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians-Kizh Nation, the original Indigenous people of the Los Angeles Basin, whose historical ties to Azuksanga, Rancho Santa Anita, and Rancho Azusa de Duarte reflect an enduring connection to the region. On the historic Monrovia High School campus, natural infrastructure and urban forestry improvements have added native and Mediterranean trees and shrubs to conserve water, celebrate local cultural heritage, enhance groundwater infiltration and tree canopy, and provide benefits including greenhouse gas sequestration, stormwater management, heat island mitigation, biodiversity, improved air quality, outdoor learning, and more diverse recreational space.