Dear Editor:
I thank Tom Regan (“Destruction of trees,” August 11) for joining others in decrying the eco-destruction of Union City’s Washington Park. A monumental loss of life on this scale is deserving of great sadness. While others are overly fixated on the number of new trees to be planted in and around a renovated Washington Park, they lose sight of what you are keen on: the connectivity of species and how the loss of one impacts on others; squirrels and rodents, for example. The sycamores in Washington Park that were destroyed have life spans measured in centuries and their lives were cut short prematurely as were those living organisms interrelated to the urban forest.
What outrages me is not solely loss of trees but this web of life, the ecology of the park that was minimally speaking, disrupted, uprooted, and to some degree destroyed. I am glad to report that 6 juvenile gray squirrels survive. So to assure you and my fellow Mother Nature enjoyers, not all squirrels were eradicated. However, those who selected new trees to be planted have not adequately taken into consideration the species that rely on trees for food as squirrels rely, in part, on acorns. A park is not just a recreation area but a habitat for wildlife too. This too, has been overshadowed by those who just tout numbers of trees and fail to see everything else from butterflies to swallows. I very much appreciated your letter seeking to address the need for balance in Nature and park planning/planting.
Your fellow resident,
Tony Squire