"I think I'll never see
A poem as beautiful as a tree.
Trees, by Joyce Kilmer
A centennial tree is being felled on private property on A Street in the Centennial neighborhood of Redwood City.
“The owners of the property next door to me — who rent the house — are cutting down the giant sequoia that runs along both sides of our backyards. It shades the entire block and is very old. I am devastated,” Jessica Shade explained to Peninsula 360.
Redwood City's alphabetical streets have very few trees and, like the rest of the coast, have been greatly affected by climate change. Trees represent important public and private assets in a community. A tree takes many years to grow and only a few minutes to cut down.
“The city never wants to cut down trees,” Jaime Perez of Redwood City Public Works said in a phone call with Peninsula 360. “It’s really a last resort for us. In this case, the tree was damaging the structure of the house, the water lines, and the sewers. If an earthquake were to occur, the tree could cause severe damage, and the property would be exposed, and people could be left homeless,” Perez continued.
"The council did not contact us to ask for a felling permit, even though the tree is partly on our property. We were caught by surprise," Shade added.
Who owns a tree? Where do the roots begin or end? Does it belong to the person who planted it? What if the tree was there before anyone got to it: before it became private property?
The dilemma also lies in the privatisation of the air we breathe. This stump released huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere the moment it stopped being a tree. CO2 that we all have to deal with collectively. When the concentration of carbon dioxide increases, so does the temperature; that is why CO2 has been talked about for years in reference to climate change.
There is growing evidence that planting trees is one of the best ways to tackle climate change. They absorb pollutants and harmful gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide through their leaves and bark via photosynthesis, which is released as clean oxygen. Redwoods, in particular, are among the largest trees in the world, descendants of the forests where dinosaurs roamed – hence the name heritage trees.
The effects of climate change are being felt throughout California. Not only are we experiencing severe droughts, but also dangerous flooding. Trees also play a vital role in saving water and preventing its pollution, as well as in capturing rainwater and reducing the risk of natural disasters such as flooding. Without trees, once-forested areas would become drier and more prone to extreme droughts. When it did rain, the flooding would be disastrous. See Water scarcity in California due to climate change, experts say.
"Between $8 billion and $10 billion of existing California property is likely to be underwater by 2050, with another $6 billion to $10 billion at risk during high tide," he said. One of the six reports published by Peninsula 360.
For this same reason, the City Council states in its Web page that tree removal is the last option when no other reasonable alternative can correct a problem. There are several considerations for approval of tree removal; the tree has to be dead, dying, structurally unsafe, or obstructing a permitted improvement in such a way that it will die or become structurally unsafe when the improvement is implemented. “You can also get information through our phone number Monday through Friday, during office hours, +1 (650) 780-7464,” explained Deborah Weitzel, of Public Works.
The tree on A Street was the only redwood on the block and by far the largest. A giant has died and saddened a community. There will be no shade to protect families from the heat of summer when it comes this year. And it will take many years to replace the tree lost this weekend.
It is understandable that people are scared of the possibility of a branch falling due to extreme weather with strong winds. It is also understandable that the city wants to protect people from serious harm in the event of an earthquake. People should also fear climate change, the effects of which are upon us.
It is not clear why we do not take radical measures to address the impact of climate change at the local level and do more to protect our natural heritage, such as the redwoods.
“A normal condition of a tree removal permit is the replanting of at least one new tree for each tree removed,” the Public Works website states. But is this enough?
How can we repair the loss of this gigantic, century-old tree? How many trees is it equivalent to? Who will plant them?
The government and the community should collectively ask themselves many unanswered questions in the face of the looming risk of climate change.
The city should encourage the community to get involved in local solutions to climate change, planting trees and finding ways to reduce carbon emissions. The city should also find ways to replace trees that are currently permitted to be cut.
Anna Lee Mraz.
Sociologist | Feminist | Writer
Twitter @AnnaLeeMraz Instagram @annaleemraz
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