I'm Seeing Red - Literally and Figuratively

 

I'm sorry to say that this is an angry and sad posting.

Everywhere I look these days, I am seeing red.  Tree trunks are sprayed with red paint or encircled by red tape and it is distressing.  It seems as though there has been all this pent up frustration during the pandemic that is now being unleashed and trees are falling at an alarming rate.  And the vast majority are not dead or diseased trees. 

The photo above shows three felled Eastern Cottonwood trees (many decades old) at the edge of a dirt road behind CEGEP Saint-Laurent (Saint-Laurent College).  I was shocked to see them marked for cutting and tried to reach out to the college before they all came down but to no avail.  No one would reply to me. This is a college which boasts of a spiritual connection with the Environment and has achieved the "Excellence level" of the province's "CEGEP Vert" certification. 

And this was just the beginning.  Chainsaws have been roaring on the campus for close to two months now.  Young, healthy Maple trees are being cut down, bushes are being ripped out, and vines are being torn down.  Nesting birds are given no consideration and many mammals (voles, rabbits, groundhogs and squirrels) have lost vital cover to protect them from predators.

I was not the only person disturbed by all this destruction and in my many walks in the area, I met others who lamented the killing.  Someone wrote the trees' ages on their stumps.  

I was inspired to write as well.  The first one says " Why? Pourquoi?", and the second one says " Why did you kill me?"

Below is another view of the three slain Cottonwoods.

And then there was a healthy Maple tree in which I had photographed Warblers, Cardinals and Eastern Phoebes among its branches this spring.  It also gave shelter to an Eastern Cottontail under its low slung branches.  Below are before and after shots.

I contacted the mayor of Saint-Laurent on this issue to find out what was happening and he told me that the college had applied for permits to cut down 16 trees.  He said the applicant is supposed to declare them to be dead, diseased or posing a safety threat.  I don't see that here!

These killings, combined with at least 7 trees slated for cutting in the Saint-Laurent Cemetery, plus 2 more on private land nearby and 5 more in city green spaces, have made this a very sad summer.

The only positive note was the protection of the hawks (see previous post) but that, too, involves the killing of trees – it is just a delayed execution.

Here is a poem I wrote a few years ago:

The Cutting

Chainsaws roar and spit.

Helpless – trees submit

to the death machines.

No one intervenes.

Standing in silence.

Facing the violence.

Without a choice.

Without a voice.

Left where they lie

to slowly die.

Stumps jut through 

leafy branches ...

Instant tombstones – 

with rings as

poignant epitaphs.

(from the book Discoveries In The Dark by Doris Potter)

© Doris Potter