OPINION: An Unnecessary Eulogy for the H Street Trees
This is an unnecessary eulogy for the H Street trees.
The H Street canopy trees are scheduled for removal beginning Monday in preparation for the repaving of H Street. I don’t live on H Street, yet I grieve for those who do, and those who are losing their beloved trees.
It will be a loss for our entire city.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The cutting of the trees on H Street has been postponed pending further City Council discussion. See today’s press release from the City of Salida.)
When was it that the City of Salida, once coined “Tree City USA”, lost its way? When did expediency trump thoughtfulness? When did they decide that 80-year-old shade trees are disposable items? I understand that trees don’t live forever. But if a tree has 10 to 20 more years left, isn’t it worth saving?
Not to our City officials, it appears.
The City talks about investing in solar gardens — green energy — but claims we cannot tend to historic trees that provide natural shade in the summer? The small, ornamental trees that the City and Tree Board recommend to replace these majestic giants are a joke. Think shopping mall parking lot trees. Think slick new suburbia trees. Is this the new Salida?
The City talks about their liability should a tree branch fall. What about their liability should a mountain biker injure himself in a fall on a City-owned mountain trail? Does the City use liability concerns as a convenient excuse?
According to a January 15, 2014 article by Bryan Walsh at science.time.com titled “When it Comes to the Climate, Older Trees Do it Better”, a new study reveals that older, bigger trees are more efficient at storing carbon than younger trees, and therefore are more beneficial to the climate than young whipper snapper trees. Just like humans.
Humor aside, those cantankerous old trees are still adding value to the community — and storing carbon to help offset global warming. They are accomplishing the same goal as solar gardens, with no upfront costs or installation required.
I can understand why Salida Public Works Director Bob Salmi is in favor of removing the H Street trees. They require maintenance and have broken up the sidewalks, curbs and gutters. But isn’t that damage a reasonable tradeoff for the shade value and the carbon storage?
Sidewalks are not within the scope of the current H Street project, so they will remain as is, with or without the trees. How sad that the canopy trees that now grace H Street will be slayed, leaving in their wake broken sidewalks to serve as grave markers.
Removing old, living trees is not moving Salida forward in a sound, environmentally friendly fashion. It’s more akin to Salida running H Street over with a tank.
I implore the City of Salida to carefully reconsider the earnest pleas — coming from a majority of the citizens at the January 9 public hearing — to save the H Street trees.
It’s the right thing to do, on so many levels.
