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LETTER: Arborist dismayed by cherry tree destruction

I was dismayed to read the article ‘Cherry Trees Come Down’ on the front page of the Cloverdale Reporter.
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The last cherry blossoms of the season cling to the branches as the Surrey Lawn Bowling Club's 2011 season opener gets underway.

To the editor;

Re: “Cherry trees come down,” March 22

Returning home from an arborist conference in Parksville last Friday, I was dismayed to read the article ‘Cherry Trees Come Down’ on the front page of the Cloverdale Reporter.

It’s so disappointing that 10 beautiful mature cherry trees have been chopped to the ground to satisfy the wants of a small group of people.

The residents of the area considered those trees to be Clayton Park’s crowning glory.

And even more than being beautiful to behold, those trees offered other important benefits both to the ecology and the community – for humans, they exhale oxygen, sequester carbon, provide shade and buffer noise, and for the rest of the ecology, they provide food, shelter and habitat.  It’s no wonder that people form strong attachments to trees, as Ina Vandeburgt did.

Well, way to go Ina, you stuck up for a tree!  I will share with you a message I came home with from my conference, “Save every tree you can, even if it’s just one.”

 

Jacqueline Hohmann

Certified Arborist and Landscape Technician

Surrey

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