Disappearance of state's trees is a terrible loss
When she was 90 (and in excellent health), my mother moved to Greensboro to live near me and my family. She chose an apartment with a balcony that overlooked a wooded area because she loved trees and birds. For two years, weather permitting, she enjoyed her morning coffee on that balcony, reading the paper and watching the seasons change.
One day she reported in horror that the woods were being destroyed. She described heartless machinery that ate up trees, branches, baby birds, baby squirrels and any other wild creatures unfortunate enough to be caught in the maw of death. My mother didn't use her balcony after that. She couldn't stand to see the devastation. Soon afterward, she died.
Trees bestow transcendent beauty, absorb carbon dioxide, create homes for wildlife, and offer shade. North Carolina's trees are disappearing, largely due to development. When they are gone, they are gone. They will not grow back in our lifetimes.
Decades ago, singer Joni Mitchell lamented that "They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot."
Think about it.
Maureen Parker
Greensboro
Comments (5)
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with all due respect to joyce kilmer...
...as long as births exceed deaths (AND with an influx of 40 million+ illegals), the bulldozer will always find its blade disturbing the birdies...
Posted on April 6, 2007 7:50 AM
Morning, buckyreeds. Got coffee? Better be careful about those reality-based observations. You will be accused of living in a world of doom and gloom. Now we wouldn't want that, would we? :)
Posted on April 6, 2007 8:01 AM
Bless her heart, but what did they do when they built her balcony?
Posted on April 6, 2007 12:05 PM
Aye, there's the rub, Pragmatist. Everybody frets about the maw of death tearing down trees to build the apartments behind their apartments. But what about the baby birds so cruelly sacrificed for their domicile? Tough luck that.
Posted on April 6, 2007 12:45 PM
Amen Maureen! As for the counterpoints above, I acknowledge their validity as well. You can't stop progress, but you can and should manage it.
We have a long term growth plan for the area & a zoning board to manage development. These serve to allow growth in ways that do not diminish our quality of life. They sometimes do, however, diminish the income of developers, who frequently appeal zoning board decisions to the City Council. The City Council generally considers the increased tax base resulting from the development, and all too often values that more highly than the quality of life.
We need more people like Maureen to stand up for our overall quality of life, and against uncontrolled development.
Posted on April 7, 2007 3:49 PM