I write with grave concern for our city trees, public and private. They are being lost at a precipitous rate through development, teardowns, aging out, and disease (including gas leaks). Several city councilors put together a tree ordinance in an attempt to address this, modeled after Cambridge’s. The Mayor’s administration has also put one out. A couple of significant differences are that the councilors’ ordinance calls for environmental mitigation payments for lost trees, and no exemptions. There has been misinformation circulated about the councilors’ ordinance and I encourage all readers to read the F.A.Q about their proposed ordinance amendments.
Replacement trees have been suggested, but they take years to achieve the same lost canopy, providing they live to that age — many are just thrown in and left to sink or swim without proper care.
Every tree is a community. They are green infrastructure and provide many benefits we so need in this crisis of climate change. Design and planning should work around them and more effort made to protect and provide for them.
If you care about Newton’s quickly disappearing trees, please sign the petition in favor of the Councilors’ tree ordinance.
We must speak for the trees. We must be their voice. They provide us with so much!
Thank you.
Pat Irwin, Newton MA
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