Thank you for your May 15 editorial, "Greensboro's canopy gives it the right shade." Greensboro was blessed with one of our nation's most beautiful locations.

On the rolling hills of the Carolina Piedmont, many varieties of stately trees shaded early settlers. These canopy trees were more than just "ornaments of life." They cleaned the air of pollutants. Their roots caught rainwater, which soaked into the soil, replenishing the groundwater and sending clean water into the streams.

In the 1900s, rather than respecting nature's gift, developers got into the bad habit of clear-cutting trees and bulldozing hills to make flat sites for building. Between 1984 and 2000, Greensboro had a tree loss of 18 percent (800 acres a year on average). Only a tiny percentage of these trees has been replaced. Your suggestion of replacing every fallen canopy tree along a right-of-way is certainly doable.

It was heartening to read Malcolm Kenton's, "Balance development with quality of life" (May 23), where he urges saving "green infrastructure" as one of the best strategies for ensuring long-term prosperity. With young people like him, there is hope for Greensboro. Most of us would love to see our tree canopy preserved and restored.

Emilie and Tom Sandin
Greensboro