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 leaves
that provides shade thus reducing loss of soil moisture.
As well, the countless fallen leaves will provide food, shelter, and nesting materials to
a variety of wildlife, as well as, overwintering protection for a number of
insects, many of those insects are pollinators and foodsources for our birds.
Newly planted trees are NOT effective at sequestering carbon from the air and storing
it in the soil, thus helping to reduce ever increasing greenhouse gases.
Environmental scientists emphasize that the most effective and least expensive thing
we can do to reduce carbon dioxide in the air is to
preserve as many trees as possible and plant even more trees like native oaks which
support more organisms than any other tree, including
many species of birds and butterflies.
Our elected representatives try to tell us not to worry about cutting down trees
because the trees will be replaced, but it will take dozens and dozens of years for tree saplings or young trees to begin to provide the merit of benefits just outlined.
So let's start finding alternative solutions that does not involve destroying the food
sources and habitats for our local fauna and miss out on the incredible benefits provided by mature trees.
More Trees! Please!
More trees! Please!
Chattered the chipmunks
But why?
I cry!
We need acorns to eat.
More trees! Please!
Twittered the birds
But why?
I cry!
We need branches for our nests.
More trees! Please!
Purred the raccoons
But why?
I cry!
We sleep on leafy branches.
More trees! Please!
Hissed the beavers
But why?
I cry!
We make lodges from branches.
More trees! Please!
Wheezed the deer
But why?
I cry!
We eat lots of tree leaves.
More trees! Please!
Mooed the moose
But why?
I cry!
We eat many small branches.
More trees! Please!
Rasped the squirrels
But why?
I cry!
We make leaf nests in trees.
More trees! Please!
Buzzed the bees
But why?
I cry!
We use tree resin for our hives.
More trees! Please!
Yipped the foxes
But why?
I cry!
We live in the woods.
More trees! Please!
Grunted the porcupines
But why?
I cry!
We eat bark, fruit, and leaves.
More trees! Please!
Gurgled the fish
But why?
I cry!
We need shade to cool our eggs laid close to the shore.
More trees! Please!
Begged the people
But why?
I cry!
We need oxygen to breathe
We need tree roots to clean soil and water
We need fruits for vitamins
We need tree roots to absorb water during floods
We need nuts for protein
We need tree roots to stop soil erosion
We need lumber for houses
We need tree roots to stop deserts from forming
We need paper for writing
We need tree leaves to trap nasty pollutants
We need trees for city parks
We need tree leaves to absorb carbon dioxide
We need trees shade for cooling
We need tree leaves to trap nasty pollutants.
WE ALL NEED TREES!
--
Comments
Post a Comment