Letters to the Editor

Thank a Tree

Another Arbor Day in Paradise: Next Friday, April 25, is Arbor Day. A day to honor trees – unless you live in Long Beach.

In Long Beach, trees are considered a nuisance and can be taken down if they’re “messy,” inconveniently located, or drop leaves – even though rakes and brooms have already been invented – or if their roots push up the sidewalk.

There are many creative and practical ways to circumvent this, if the tree is considered a priority and is valued more highly than concrete – which in this city it is not.

Ironically, with Long Beach having the worst air pollution in the US (#1 in ozone pollution and #6 in particle pollution, according to the American Lung Association), one would think maintaining an oxygen-producing, moisture-retaining, naturally air-cleaning and air-cooling tree canopy would be of utmost importance. Nope, not in Long Beach.

In Long Beach, we are encouraged to replace our trees with “drought tolerant” (which could also be considered drought-inducing) landscaping, which does absolutely nothing for improving air quality or providing cooling, moisture-retaining shade. Not to mention the increase in property values in treed neighborhoods.

When it comes to the environment, Long Beach, as usual, is making a cursory effort at performative gestures to celebrate the current “Earth Month,” including farmers’ markets that occur every month anyway, children’s events, and something called “Tree Yourself”: A supremely low-effort city program which suggests that residents apply for a permit, buy a tree at their own expense from an “approved” list of trees, and plant it on city property themselves.

Just a few more examples of Long Beach underachieving again – this is, after all, the city that cuts down healthy trees to make way for “environmental” bike lanes! Sorry, but we need better.

When I first arrived at the street on which I live, it was a welcoming tree-lined street. It is now a bleak, nearly barren thoroughfare, with trees having come down one-by-one and in some cases two-by-two, the remaining trees struggling for their existence. The ecology of the street has changed: there are fewer birds, and it is hotter, windier, noisier and much less attractive than it once was.

For the past few years I have been encouraging and trying to convince the powers-that-be in the city to consider applying for “Tree City USA” status, which would help raise awareness as to the value of trees and, yes, provide guidelines for maintaining a treed presence.

I have been met with the usual blah-blah city speak, making sounds but saying nothing. Never mind that numerous surrounding cities – including Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Rossmoor, Torrance, Norwalk, Santa Ana, Lakewood, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach and LA – have been designated Tree Cities. Even Las Vegas and Phoenix are Tree Cities, recognizing the need to protect the few trees they have and planting more as the need to combat the ever-rising heat levels resulting from global warming envelops us all.

What is wrong with Long Beach? Is it the constant selling out to developers? Does removing trees make more money than caring for the well-being of us citizens (not to mention the planet) by keeping them? Or is it just plain ignorance in the guise of “progress”? No matter, the result is the same: more air pollution, an increasingly hotter city and a less-desirable place to live – not to mention the increase in health issues arising as a result.

So on this Arbor Day, let’s celebrate our leafy friends. And, if you enjoy breathing, thank a tree.

Merrry Colvin