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Dear Editor:
What is the value of a tree? Arborists, environmentalists, and even city planners in many locales would readily say that there are many.
In a November 2021 article of the Noblesville Current, Tree Board President Ashley Mullis said, “What John [John Easley, the City Arborist] and I have found in our careers as arborists is, many people are unaware of the health benefits trees provide the community. Flooding and poor air quality and erosion are all effects of the loss of canopy cover. More importantly, tree canopy has a huge effect on physical and mental health.”
The current heat wave sweeping through Indiana and much of the nation brings special emphasis to another important value offered by trees: they produce a natural cooling effect from their shade and the evaporation of water vapor that is emitted from tree leaves. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the presence of trees can reduce temperatures in the immediate surrounding area by up to 6°F or more (Landscaping for Shade – Energy Saver, energy.gov). This feature makes the preservation (and planting) of trees an important adaptation strategy as climate change impacts worsen.
Unfortunately, though, trees have little value to the city administration of Noblesville. Their days are literally numbered according to the City’s plans.
According to Mayor Jensen, nearly 50 percent of the mature trees in the city’s Oakmont neighborhood are scheduled to be cut down starting late this month because they are said to interfere with street resurfacing and create unsafe walking conditions as their roots uplift sections of sidewalk. Most other neighborhoods of the city would experience similar loss of mature trees. Residents of the Oakmont neighborhood are aghast as they contemplate the prospective loss of sixty foot maple tree canopies that line most of the streets. In the fall, when these maples turn a beautiful bright red, people come from all over the city to admire them.
Such plans set the city of Noblesville in stark contrast to many other municipalities from around the country that apply more enlightened policies to save trees while addressing sidewalk safety concerns. Such communities include, as examples: Bristol, Ind.; Wakarusa, Ind.; Washington, D.C.; Key West, Fla.; Lake Forest, Ill.; Spring Lake Borough, N.J.; Columbus, Ohio; Napoleon, Ohio; Pottstown, Pa.; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Seattle, Wash. Then, there is the city of Savannah, Ga., which places so much value on the historic live oak trees that residents are not allowed to trim or prune them without a permit from the city.
Moreover, the current plans of the city of Noblesville differ markedly from its plans of only a few years ago, as explained in the November 2021 Noblesville Current article in which Ashley Mullis stated “The [Tree Board] is working on a five-year plan to increase the tree canopy cover in Noblesville and raise community awareness of the benefits of trees.”
Noblesville residents and other experts have reached out to the Noblesville Street Department with other alternatives that will allow the city to maintain ADA compliance and resurface streets without sacrificing trees – but to no avail.
If other cities across the Midwest, some even in Indiana, can repair sidewalks and streets, and make sure they are ADA compliant, without removing trees, why is the city of Noblesville unable to do so? This important question needs to be answered, and soon. The city’s residents want to save their trees before it is too late.
Jaime Rychener
Noblesville
Larry Kane, retired environmental attorney
Carmel
Having been a resident of Oakmont and living close and occasionally driving through the neighborhood, I always look forward to seeing the trees and have often told others of how beautiful it is.
It’s appalling to think a city would take such action rather than use alternative suggestions.
The city has decided that these trees do not hold as much economic value as the aesthetics they are trying to create, so our opinions and the facts no longer matter to them.
Everything has become a brutal cost benefit analysis that always favors the money. And we wonder why children do not stay here when they grow and choose to move to states and cities that show even basic human sense.
What he’s doing is nothing short of insanity. How would anybody think this is a good idea?
This article highlights the importance of considering alternatives before resorting to tree removal. The residents’ concerns about the impact on the environment and aesthetics are understandable. The mention of the five-year plan to increase tree canopy cover is encouraging.
The article talks about residents suggesting alternative solutions to the street department. Were there any specific examples mentioned of these alternatives? Knowing the details of the proposed solutions could help inform similar discussions in other communities facing similar challenges.