Another tree felled.

Whenever I see a tree cut, I stop to wonder:  What has this tree experienced.  How long has it been there? What parts of the ecosystem are depending on it.  I also think of Aldo Leopold, an early 20th century conservationists, and his essay February: Good Oak in which he ponders the life of his felled oak as he counts the rings and then watches its wood burn in his fire.

November seems to be the month for cutting trees.  I follow my ears to find where the tree cutters are today.  Today just a few blocks from our home: a couple of old fir trees and an old cherry and a third site somewhere not far away. I realize in the city trees can be planted in the wrong place or that there is a fungus that is affecting the health of cherry trees.  Perhaps all the trees being cut down are for good reasons.  Nevertheless, it makes me sad.  Crows, owls, birds of all sorts have homes in those trees.  Tonight our local Audubon Environmental Learning Center is putting on a book talk on the new book called Subirdia- it is going to remind us of some of the birds we see as we are on the outskirts of the city.

Our developing neighborhood has always been near the outskirts and hence we have had great bird diversity in our community...but with each tree that is felled, I worry.  A recent article in our local paper on A fight for Urban Trees: Seattle’s Wealthier Neighborhoods Leafier and here is also a city link on canopy coverage maps and reforestation plans.