- In Memory Of Trees……………..
- For those of you who have even
an inkling of sensitivity for nature and the abuses it suffers,
I salute you and hope you read on. Maybe it’s a cliché subject
but until the majority of people of this world finally get it, I
guess it will continue to be repeated over and over again.
- So, this leads me to what concerns
me in the area of Southwest Florida. How fortunate we are having
held on to the natural beauty around this area for so long, especially
when we compare
- Ourselves to the east coast
or up north. But this is fast becoming a historical memory as developers,
politicians, big business, and the shear increases in population
ensure the destruction and termination of the natural beauty, as
we know it. It doesn’t have to be that way.
- It’s mind boggling how
developers march into a place destroy 100’s of acres of trees
in one fell swoop and then after building their monstrosities plant
a few non-native palm trees and the lake claming it an adequate
replacement. Have you seen Immokalee Road lately? They’re doing
a great job stripping it clean. Can’t they work around some
of the trees instead of pulverizing them all down to unidentifiable
pile of rubble?
- I remember witnessing this once.
First the birds (Hawks, owl’s, herons, etc.) came screaming
out of the wooded area as they began to clear it. There were rabbits,
raccoons and other small animals running out with panicked looks
in their eyes. I was saddened enough to see this sight but then
to watch them one by one yank each tree out by the roots and push
it through one of those portable saw mills and within seconds it’s
no more than a pile of sawdust. What a way to go – 25, 50,
maybe even 75 years of growing and then in a few seconds it’s
all over.
- I watched this same gruesome
scene recently at a Naples church which for years had a natural
wetlands patch with a number of Cypress trees in the middle of it
located in the back. I had always been told Cypress trees were protected
by the state. Puzzled by the lack of enforcement for the protection
of these trees, I asked the owner of the neighboring nursery about
it. She told me she called the county about it and tried to thwart
the process, but to no avail. It turns out that the church wanted
to extend their parking property further. Outraged, I called the
county’s permitting office, who told me that the church had
mitigated their right to clear the Cypress trees – in other
words, pay the county a fee and they’ll use that "mitigating
fee" to plant a few more trees in the Everglades. And God only
knows what they’re doing there – needing to plant a few
more trees to make up for who knows what.
- The developers are funny. Have
you ever seen a huge barren acreage of land suddenly appear practically
over night where there was once a heavily wooded area? I saw this
happen on Immokalee Road and on Corkscrew Road. I found out they
leave the bordering layer of trees by the roadside so passersby
don’t see pr suspect anything. They work quickly flattening
the entire a
- area, saving the bordering trees
for last, and then voila it’s all clear (the cost as well as
the trees).
- Have you heard the defense a
developer will give you ? New trees will be planted when we landscape
and in a few years, it’s all back. Substituting majestic 50-year-old
plus trees for some non-native palm trees isn’t my idea of
an equal replacement – raccoons and owls in palm trees? What
about the habitat, the balance of nature and the increase in temperatures
since our old tree friends aren’t there giving off much needed
oxygen. Have you noticed how the east coast (I.e. Fort Lauderdale
and Miami) is sometimes up to 10 degrees hotter in the summer than
here? Why? Because they hardly have any trees left – you can
see the lack of trees from the air as you fly over – it’s
mostly concrete. You cab feel the temperature difference when you
drive back into Naples from there.
- Recently, I read an explanation
on why one should cut down some majestic 100 year-old Banyan trees
along Crayton Road in Naples… because they had served their
purpose even though they had maybe another 100 years of more to
go. Oh boy, I don’t supposed some senior citizens would be
happy to hear that after age 65 that they had served their purpose
– should they be cut down and removed too? Who are we to judge
what in nature has served its purpose – we don’t know
the half of it.
- One example of how cutting down
trees impacts habits and the imbalance of nature then ultimately
us is the case of the honey bee. Scientists have recently reported
that there has been a profound decrease in the honey bee population
due to loss of trees and habitat. Folks, do you know how important
honey bees are for cross pollinating or plants, fruits and vegetables?
Scientists certainly do because they’re scrambling to try to
remedy the problem.
- The reduction of trees also
contributes to the increased in the mosquito population because
their natural predators are fewer in number. My late anti-environmental
World War II veteran farther would be thrilled. He always wanted
to start a new organization called "Save the Mosquito"
claiming that it was an outrage that so many mosquito have been
ruthlessly killed and poisoned. He loved to rib us environmentally
conscious folks. Well, Dad, perhaps you’ll get your wish by
default. However, as the mosquito population is increasing , so
is the amount of pesticides needed to spray all over the place,
which will ensue that our drinking water will be contaminated,
- Not to mention our air. Why
not? Our bodies are getting used to the barrage of toxins we are
exposed to...hopefully. You see it’s the environmental "Chaos
Theory",
-
Barbara Monterio
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