In defense of the tree hugger

It was a battle in Palmyra just to save this very old oak tree when they redesigned Legion Field.

I just read an article in the NY Times about the World Economic Forum’s One Trillion Trees initiative. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/opinion/trillion-trees-trump-climate.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

I have been a tree hugger since childhood when my dad planted oak and maple trees around the edge of our little suburban NJ property. We also helped dad cut down a willow tree that was sending roots into our sewer pipes, so I was aware of "problem trees" as well.

Jump ahead to my working with the Palmyra (NJ) Shade Tree Committee in 1999. I wrote a grant proposal that won about $18,000 for planting trees in town, mostly on the Borough-owned strip between the sidewalk and the street. I was a bit naive (only a bit) about how the rest of the world did not necessarily think trees were a good thing, but I was truly unprepared for the angry responses from those who most definitely DID NOT WANT a tree in front of their house...even if it was a Borough tree planted on Borough property.

In 2001, I was elected to Borough Council and continued my tree-hugging agenda. Working with some dedicated Shade Tree Committee members, we officially changed the Tree Committee to a Tree Commission, worked to create a Community Forestry Management Program for Palmyra, and all of that qualified us to be an official Tree City USA.

About a year after I left office in 2004, the Mayor and Borough Council undid all of our accomplishments. I am sure they had reasons that made sense to all of them, but I just don't get it. And yes, I am still bitter.

All this to say it will do no good to plant a trillion trees around the world until you educate the tree haters of the world about the benefits of trees. If a trillion trees were planted today, even if they did survive, it would take several decades for them to have a positive environmental impact. But they will not survive unless every human can learn to hug a tree, every tree.

Arbor Day is coming soon. Get ready to start hugging and planting.