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Need Our Attention and Protection

Is it time for Guilford to have a heritage tree protection ordinance? One of the many pleasures of living in Guilford is the beauty and diversity of its native trees. Recently, the magnificent heritage oak next door to my Guilford Lakes home, a tree that was more than 5 feet in diameter with a stunning huge canopy of branches, was hacked down by a homeowner who disliked its fallen leaves in the autumn and its snow-covered bare branches in the winter. He also demolished dozens of other native trees in his front yard abutting my property out of a similar desire to avoid fallen leaves and bare branches as the seasons change. He denuded his property so completely, in fact, that a logging truck was required to haul away the dozens of healthy, established trees he killed. Neighbors were in shock as it unfolded. It was like watching a crime scene.

The damage has been done, but perhaps this tragedy can be the impetus for putting in place a clause in the Tree Protection Ordinance in the town’s Division and Ordinances Code 252-8, recommending town approval before a healthy specimen tree near a public roadway, and which presents no risk to anyone, is slated for destruction. The state’s Notable Trees Project which collects information about Connecticut’s largest trees, and Guilford’s own Tree Protection ordinance protecting trees in public areas, are wonderful protections already in place for our historic trees and public trees respectively. It’s time we also extended that care of our forest and suburban canopy that the tree warden oversees to notable trees loved by the community and which are on the edge of private property next to public roadways. They urgently need our attention and protection.

Janice Ross

Guilford