Re: Poison suspected in tree death, (Oak Bay News, June 27)
I read with disgust about the “suspected” poisoning of the boulevard Horse Chestnut tree on Beach Drive near King George Terrace. I have seen this once magnificent public tree as well as the series of plugged drill holes at the trunk base. As a Certified Arborist, formally responsible for Oak Bay’s Urban Forest and as their Qualified Landscape and Tree Appraiser of damaged trees, I put two and two together and put this tree in the intentional death category.
I hope the investigation is thorough enough to charge and convict those responsible and the penalty fits the crime. The loss, cost of removal, a replacement tree and years of watering and training to establish the new tree can run high. As an example, in the ’80s I appraised a boulevard Garry oak at $40,000. That appraisal influenced the house moving company to pick a different route and the oak was spared.
Motives for killing trees include: shade, view, leaf and fruit litter. These are annoyances to many of our residents. Some even request heavy pruning or removal; the clear majority do not break the law and harm public or protected trees. If residents took the law into their hands and the majority decided to kill the 10,000 +/- boulevard trees, Oak Bay would be a drastically different and greatly devalued community.
Please proceed carefully Oak Bay. Investigate and prosecute this case to the fullest and recover the full value of this tree. We must deter other bad behavior.
You might even include fines associated with unauthorized use of a controlled pesticide on public land, further exposing people, children and pets to potential hazard.
A message to other tree haters: If you can’t stand the trees, get out of the Urban Forest. Don’t ruin it for the rest of us.
Ron Carter
Oak Bay
