Old tree dies after thieves slice into it
By adamg - 3/15/13 - 7:46 am
The Jamaica Plain Gazette posts a sad photo of a tree with an estimated age of more than 100 years being chopped down on the Arborway last week. The Gazette reports the tree had to be taken down as a safety hazard because it's dead, thanks to a pair of chainsaw wielders who allegedly went up and down the Emerald Necklace last year chopping off burls - large bark protuberances popular among woodworkers and sculptors.
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Tree on Arborway
is almost directly in front of my condo. Last year, one evening round 7:30pm I saw and heard chainsaw and saw two men cutting at a massive burl. I called cops, but men left before they could remove entire burl. I took pics, sent to reporter at Boston Globe and emailed her my story. Never heard from her but saw in Globe they were apprehended in The Fens the following day. So sad to lose the shade, and habitat for many a bird.
Hopefully those scumbags had to pay.
These trees are probably worth tens of thousands of dollars. I hope some hefty fines were leveled on these punks.
Why are we destroying all of the oldest trees?
The oldest trees are quickly disappearing. While I want to have confidence that the staff at the Arboretum and arborists working for the city remove trees based solely on safety reasons I know that is not always true.
What was at the time the oldest tree in the Arboretum was removed from the new vine collection. It was an approximately 100 year old cherry tree which was replanted over at the ponds. The sign posted near the tree provided that information. The tree - uprooted - from its home within a few years died (what fool actually thought it would survive?) It was arrogance to think that a tree so old would acclimate. But the money and prestige accorded to Leventritt, the vine areas funder, was more important. The wide welcoming trees at the main entrance which stood there for many years were recently killed. The claim was that they were dangerous (terrorist trees - beware!) because they were old and at any point a branch might break. In that case every tree more than 10 feet tall should be removed.
The oldest trees along the Arborway are disappearing. Eventually there will only be skinny barely noticeable sticks with leaves. Why? Again because they are supposedly dangerous.
There is something about the human psyche that leads to a perverse belief that the universe exists to server humanity (although there may be an alien species that one day will serve humanity - on a plate!). Old trees are one of the few reminders in an urban environment that the universe does not revolve around human beings. We, neither individually, not collectively, are superior to any other creature on God's green Earth. Obviously humanity is part of God's green Earth, and I am sure that we were created with purpose, just as all living things were created with purpose. But as we destroy the living things that in certain ways greater than human beings, we are puffing ourselves again with hubris. I don't subscribe to a literalist reading of Noah's Flood but I do believe that Flood stories, just as the Tower of Babel, are both reminders that if we allow our tendency toward hubris to reach fulfillment that we will cause ourselves great harm.
Destroying the only creatures that live taller and older than us in our backyards and public places is a step toward that hubris.
Did you even read the story?
Did you? Did you see the reasoning behind their decision? Get off your horse and put on your glasses.
Circle of Life
Because trees don't live forever. They are designed to drop limbs and fall down and rot to fertilize future trees. They take them down when the trees are in a state that they are likely to cause damage to other trees, people, and/or property.
The trees along the Arborway are pretty abused. They all have scars from being hit by cars over the years. A falling tree on the Arborway could kill someone and cause a massive accident.
And the Arboretum is not a wild place. It was deliberately planted and deliberately cultivated, just like any other museum.
Oldest trees are the ones that go first, so of course the oldest ones are disappearing. It would be weird of it was the middle-aged ones. Also, there was a large number of trees added to the collection about 100 years ago, which is a long life for most species.