The Editor,
I wish to comment on Port Moody's revision of its tree bylaw and policy.
Trees are dear to me and I can describe each tree I have planted over the years at the homes I owned. I am still upset about my ginkgo that was killed by someone's carelessness and go back to visit red and pin oaks, crimson and Japanese maples, sycamores, tulip trees, ash and lindens I have planted. Nonetheless, last year, I removed a stately sycamore I had planted in Ohio because in planting it too close to another's home, I had created a nuisance that pruning couldn't solve.
So I recommend, as Port Moody considers tree policy revisions, that it balance the interests of people with the interests of trees.
In our community, that should include the maintenance of views and sight lines from our homes. We should encourage planting of trees widely but not at the cost of the competing aesthetics of our views. Making our homes in this beautiful corner of the world, we should be conscious of designing an environment that preserves the exuberance of nature while sympathetically carving out a place for us.
Often, the trees that impinge on the human enjoyment of our fjord were poorly chosen cultivars that have gotten out of control. They were not an act of nature to begin with.
I would like to see a policy that repairs such misjudgments and incentivizes pruning as well as wise choices when planting.
We can live together in harmony, the trees and us, but we have to respect one another's interests.
Paul Shaker, Port Moody
