Speak for the trees

When development proposals came before Town Council, Jim Ward, council member from 1999 to 2015, could be relied upon to speak for the trees. When I joined council and he did not get re-elected, I took on that mantle. Now I’m leaving council, and no one has emerged to protect our environment in this fundamental way.

So many people in town have said, to me specifically and to council formally in petitions, that they value trees. People who had never before voiced concerns about development reached out to council members when the owner of a parcel of land on the corner of Estes Drive and MLK Jr. Boulevard that is taxed as a tree farm harvested the wood by clear-cutting. Many of us similarly mourned the loss when another landowner clear-cut hardwoods and pines from several acres in Carrboro, west of Seawell School Road. Likewise the land north of Eubanks Road bulldozed to prepare for Carraway Village and now sits baked like a brick, waiting for businesses to come.

Trees add more than grace and beauty to our town. They cool the air temperature, and most importantly, they soak up carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. Carbon dioxide is the most common greenhouse gas that depletes ozone and contributes to global warming.

We may not feel the effects of global warming much in Chapel Hill. We have more frequent heavy rains that flood homes, but then we bail out and continue life as usual.

But I live in an international community, and my neighbors tell me of the impacts felt around the world. When they visit relatives and friends in far-off places, they tell of how those places have changed in recent years. Flooding in Venice that has harmed centuries-old buildings and destroyed ancient artwork. Higher death rates among oyster divers who have to go farther out into deeper waters and succumb to the bends. The death of coral reefs, the oceanic version of the canary in the coal mine. The deforestation of Brazil and the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

Town staff recently launched a plan to plant 200 trees over the coming year to celebrate Chapel Hill’s 200th birthday. That shows excellent foresight. Over time, if cared for properly, those 2-inch caliper saplings will grow into majestic, hard-working trees. In the short-term, they can’t make up for the loss of mature trees that occurs every time council approves a development and doesn’t specify that specimen trees be preserved and that setbacks not be clear-cut.

When some of us on council objected to UNC Health Care’s request to build in a natural heritage forest on its Eastowne property, UNC-HC pushed back saying that the town had not indicated the land was not developable before UNC-HC bought it. Later in that same council meeting, we talked about the Future Land Use Map. I urged staff to review the areas it has marked for high-density development to understand what we would be losing once that development comes to pass.

When I’m no longer on council, will anyone speak for the trees?

— Nancy Oates