More Trees Please Often when residents are concerned or upset about plans to cut down mature trees, they are reassured NOT to worry because all the trees will be replaced. Basically, they’re trying to convince us that the benefits provided by newly planted saplings or young trees is equivalent to the ecological benefits of an established mature wood lot. But, I beg to differ- Newly planted trees will NOT provide much needed habitats for birds, like cardinals and mammals, like chipmunks, raccoons, and squirrels. Newly planted trees will NOT provide food sources for birds, like blue jays, pollinators like butterflies, and mammals like chipmunks. Newly planted trees do NOT have a massive network of roots which prevent light soil from being blown or washed away, leaving behind a barren wasteland. As well, roots that grow far and wide filter out pollutants and mitigate the impacts of flooding. Newly trees do NOT contain a huge canopy with hundreds and thousands of leave