More than tree loss
On the steamy, hot morning of August 1, I was selective about the course of my walk. The cool path beneath the tree canopy on Lone Pine Road to the west of Telegraph beckoned me. I approached a sun-drenched lot that was under construction at 1455, where a treeless berm outlined a chasmic hole. There, I witnessed the beginnings of a homicide.
The victim was tall and proud and blooming with life. On this denuded stretch of sidewalk, its shade was a welcome presence.
Men were tossing ropes over its outstretched lower limbs, which appeared to be begging for their life.
I asked the crew if they intended to take down the majestic five-story tree. They affirmed that intention. "Do you have a permit?" I inquired. They nodded. "Why?" I asked, incredulous, with a catch in my voice. "Because the owner doesn't want it."
I pointed out that it was rooted in the right-of-way. They ignored me and proceeded with their murderous task.
I called Bloomfield Township offices, asking for an environmental expert. I got Alex Kozkowski, project coordinator of engineering and environmental services. I told him what I was observing and he agreed to come right over.
My anxiety and frustration would not permit me to stand still. Estimating the amount of time it would take Alex to get from his township desk to Lone Pine and Echo Lake Road, I walked for about seven minutes and then returned to the site. When I reappeared, I witnessed not a reprieve but an execution.
The innocent victim was already felled. Its 30-inch girth, 50-foot trunk lay flat like trash as its dismembered parts were fed into a shredder.
Alex was present and his hands held a schematic for the lot that revealed the absence of a permit. His hands might as well have been tied with the same hefty ropes that secured the victim when it nobly stood at the edge of the Township's most lovely thoroughfare.
Alex's face reflected my despair. He explained that the reason for a lack of designation of these trees on his chart was that no trees over 24 inches in girth receive a removal permit. They may be removed only after the owner acquires a prior agreement with the township. The owner must replace a large, old-growth tree with new trees "of comparable value." As if such a value could be assigned.
"Great," I replied, contemplating my 80 years of age and the shade the tree had lent\ me that morning. "We get four or five puny trees that will take 30-40 years to grow large enough to offer the shade and beauty that this tree offered a half hour ago."
Alex helplessly made one weak nod in silent assent.
"Who is in charge of these policies? Whom do I call?" I asked. I learned that a single body, the board of trustees, is responsible for the protection of our environment and the preservation of our natural beauty.
I ponder the name trustee when I consider that the world teeters pivotally on a fulcrum that is often controlled by those neighbors to whom we trust our future. We lost here, not just the beauty but the immeasurable oxygenation and shelter for birds, squirrels and insects that comprise our ecosystem's balance.The tree resided at the sidewalk right-of-way, in no way hampering the construction of the house.
It lost its life that day -- as did its neighbor, a 26-incher on the same lot -- because we lack the appropriate legal power to protect the life of those who protect us.
You, current and future trustees, know this community and, while many of your constituents have supported a stiffening of protective ordinances, the subject has been largely ignored. The protection of our world's environment demands a dedicated core of individual communities ... everywhere. Opposition and/or apathy serve to promote our planetary losses.
This is not about politics. This is about survival.
Sandra Tessler
Bloomfield Township
