Big trees are down all along the Jenkins Park
gravel well-traveled trail which connects WL Jenkins Park with JC Hollaway Park. They were dead due to the drought and marked
in the same hot pink color which for the last few years has brought folks together to
fight breast cancer. In the case of the
trees, the bright color meant just the opposite. Doomed to the earth. I love this park and hate to see it defoliated.
They lay everywhere like fallen sentinels and the skyline and
buildings outside the park - which were recently hidden from view, are now obscenely
exposed. At least that is the way I view
it and I am sure others who daily use this refuge from concrete and asphalt are
equally dismayed.
I understand only the trees, which could fall across the
path, were aggressively chain-sawed down.
I know it and understand the reasons behind it and I applaud the Parks
Department for being proactive. We have very good parks and Scott Johnson should be applauded for keeping them up. You can't go too one of our parks without seeing city workers doing maintenance.
Two weeks ago I wanted to follow the chain-saw gang around,
but didn't want to pass the "Keep Out!
Men at Work!" barricades. They
were felling trees and with each crashing sound, I envisioned an Ent soul ascending
toward the heavens. Maybe Fangorn was in
there somewhere - who will ever know? I had to wait until today to see the damage,
as I worked a long string of 12-hour days at the Plant where I live most of the
time.
As of today, the plan is:
"Those that can be moved easily near the trail will be
removed. Those deep in the woods will be left in place to let nature do
its thing." Personally, I would like to see some seedlings going in as soon as possible, but there is no plan at this time to replace the fallen majestic pines of Jenkins Park..
.
