The questions I wish the board had asked before overriding the recommendation of the Oak Park Forestry Commission, which has at least two certified arborists as members while the board has none, would be these: [Pruning the tree standard, News, Sept. 16]
1. Why would an experienced and expert forester need to have outside control by the board? Why wouldn’t he automatically plant the trees in the right places, using his wisdom and judgment? That is what he was hired to do, isn’t it? That’s like asking the board to require that the Building and Property Standards staff make sure there are high standards for property maintenance. It’s their jobs; no further instruction is necessary.
2. The block that is being displayed in the video accompanying the article shows young trees that were planted during this current forester’s employment. Why did he plant these trees too closely to begin with, if indeed they are? Was he “out of control?” Is that why he is asking to now be “controlled” by the board? What happens in circumstances where 45 feet is appropriate because of the species of tree selected, or the age of the trees in the area? Or 42 feet? Say, 49 feet? Will he need to go back to the board for permission?
3. And finally: The trees in this film have been “stemmed up. That condition has nothing to do with the proximity of the other trees, but has everything to do with the butchering that was done by a landscape firm that was hired by our forester and pruned too severely, too high up and against our current forestry management standards. Why was this allowed to happen? Why is he using this as an example of “over planting?”
We are going to lose a large part of our urban forest and, yes, our canopy, and no matter what anyone says about the reason people move to and live in Oak Park, it’s the trees that most likely attracted them and keep them here. In a recent story about a hurricane that devastated a town on the Gulf Coast last year, the residents almost without exception stated that what they missed the most were not their homes, or other buildings, but the trees.
I guess we are about to find out if people will feel that way here. I will
Oak Parker Julie Samuels is a member of the Green Party and longtime environmentalist. She’s a former candidate for village trustee, former member of the environment and energy commission and former vice president of the Illinois Environmental Council.
