From my childhood, I fondly remember a piece of my grandmother's cross-stitched embroidery that she had framed and hung for display. It was a copy of Joyce Kilmer's well-known poem "Trees" (quote: "I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree"). While some have criticized Kilmer's work for being maudlin, as a child, I was impressed by his appreciation of trees.
As we celebrate Earth Day on Sunday, April 22, such poetry should also serve to remind us of the many reasons we have to value our trees.
In a region that can produce some of the most magnificent temperate rainforests on the planet, it seems all too easy to take trees for granted. After all, trees grow here seemingly like weeds. Like magic, any abandoned plot of land ignored for a few years will soon sprout some alder. If allowed to grow for a few years, this alder will enrich the soil for the next generation of trees and slowly transform into a grand forest of giant conifers.
As a prairie person, I had never heard of the term "trash tree" until I moved to the coast. It was even more surprising to learn this term was typically applied to one of our most valuable trees, the red alder, which fixes nitrogen into the soil, stabilizes streambanks and sustains an astonishing variety of wildlife.
Indeed, trees have a large number of attributes, many of which are now called "ecosystem services." As trees grow, their roots help to keep soil in place, an especially valuable benefit on steep hillsides in a region of high rainfall.
Trees provide shade and help to create cool spaces within the urban environment. Through the process of photosynthesis, trees produce copious amounts of oxygen, which every animal on Earth - including we humans - needs to survive.
Trees help to purify our air, reduce urban noise, add beauty to our neighbourhoods and support many species of wildlife, including birds, small mammals and countless beneficial insects. A 2010 report from the David Suzuki Foundation (www.davidsuzuki.org) and Pacific Parklands Foundation estimated a value of $5,900 per hectare per year for the ecosystem services provided by mature secondary forests.
In these times of global warming, trees also provide the vital service of storing carbon. In fact, they remain as one of the best and most effective methods to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it in a most pleasing and serviceable form. Approximately 50% of a tree, by weight, is carbon. As much as we humans have tried to create advanced technologies to capture and sequester carbon, there is still no better option than the simple act of planting trees - and, of course, allowing them to grow in place for many years.
I have thus been dismayed to see our local governments seemingly forget about the value of mature trees.
In Coquitlam, despite considerable public interest in a tree-protection bylaw, city council approved the removal of more than 150 mature trees in Glen Park, a pocket forest of incomparable value in a rapidly growing area of the city. Something was wrong with the consultation process if the value of this forest was not properly documented or presented to the public.
In Port Moody, council is proposing to build a new fire hall over a stream, which will also require the removal of some mature trees from a signature forest near city hall. Also in Port Moody, a proposed expansion of soccer fields could result in the loss of many mature trees in the Shoreline Park forest.
The construction of the much-needed Evergreen Line will also eliminate many trees that have grown up along the railway corridor in Port Moody and Coquitlam in past years.
Surely, we should be doing a better job at finding ways to meet our needs without having to cut down so many mature trees in our neighbourhoods. The green canopy of our community is what attracted many people to live here in the first place. What sort of treeless legacy will we be leaving for future generations?
Elaine Golds is a Port Moody environmentalist who is vice-president of Burke Mountain Naturalists, chair of the Colony Farm Park Association and past president of the PoMo Ecological Society.
EARTH DAY ACTIVITIES
On this Earth Day weekend, there are two events that will allow families to enjoy the outdoors including one of our loveliest urban forests.
On Sunday morning (this is correct, the print version incorrectly stated Saturday), the Friends of DeBoville Slough are hosting a guided nature walk to enjoy birds at DeBoville Slough along its partially tree-lined banks. This walk will depart from the intersection of Victoria and Cedar Drives at 9:30 a.m.
On Sunday at 1 p.m., the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society will hold one of its monthly tree tours on the Riverview Hospital grounds. With the magnolias now in bloom, this is one of best seasons to enjoy western Canada's most magnificent tree collection, which features specimens from all tree-growing continents on the planet. Follow the colourful banners through the site on Holly Drive to the meeting place or visit www.rhcs.org for details.
