Dear Editor:
On July 24, two healthy Summerland elders in my area were unceremoniously extirpated from their home of at least 100 years.
Fast, clean efficient, gone forever in mere hours; only sawdust and stumps mark their passing.
Fortunately, I could not see their dismemberment from my place, but the roar of chainsaws and the essence of fir tree resin in my nostrils marked their untimely passing.
For 15 years I watched these sentinels herald the passing of the seasons, strong winds and the presence of local and migrating birds.
Within an hour of the passing of these venerable citizens, I saw a congeries of raucous cawing crows, spurred by an invisible thread of communication, flying in from all directions, 10 in all.
They made a ballet of aerial passes at and around the site as they mourned the passing of one their favourite gathering places.
This spring about a dozen healthy veteran ponderosa pine and douglas fir trees met the same fate in Trout Creek.
Here for decades, gone in days; the new owners must have wanted a better view of the street in front of their house.
No doubt this assault left a scar on the psyche of local residents, as I had experienced, incredulous that this important this visual and comforting heritage could be destroyed at the whim of the owners.
Over the years cycling around Summerland I have noticed this annual, phenomenon of healthy veteran conifers being exorcised on private property.
These trees provide shelter and roosting for wildlife and are important carbon sinks, cleansing the air, similar to a water treatment plant, provide oxygen for all life to breath.
Enough I say, it is time for a bylaw to prohibit this travesty.
The bylaw would prohibit removal of these trees without an independent certified arborist confirming that the tree or trees were a safety hazard.
Laurie Rockwell
Summerland
