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April 09, 2012 2:00 AM
April 7 — To the Editor:
I am writing in response to Gillian Carter's April 2 letter, "Church member: Tree removal misunderstood," regarding the 90-year-old beech tree that was cut down this week. She stated that she was "sad" about the letters in the Herald that supported the tree because, she states, their Board and congregation made the decision "with great caution." Well, I felt deeply pained when I turned the corner of State Street and saw the empty space the canopy once proudly decorated. Carter writes, "as Unitarian Universalists, we are aware of our part in the eco-system."
She mentioned respecting the tree's existence and that the congregation had a religious service to bid farewell to the tree. To her and to the church I ask, does respecting "the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part" mean to your Board and congregation ending the life of a tree that had the potential to outlive the great-grandchildren of everyone in the city of Portsmouth for the convenience of building maintenance? Your hypocrisy is glaring! I doubt the tree cared about the "religious service" you gave it when its life was being slowly severed, limb by limb, until the final buzzing slice through the thick trunk.
Trees feel distress that could be understood as a form of pain. Trees also "bleed" sap and water when their living, growing bark is cut. For those of us who believe in energy, trees, especially old trees like that beech, house an incredible energy field that conscious people can physically feel by placing their hand on the trunk for a few minutes.
Your actions are inexcusable. Your steps, foundation and walls could have been modified with some planning, but you can't replace that tree, its artistic root display, its beautiful canopy gracing the street (and accenting your building), the 90 years it took to grow so magnificent, and all of the history of Portsmouth that it witnessed, including the building of the Memorial Bridge. It's such a shame considering that you lost a unique old tree a few years ago to the natural process of it falling due to its strong lean. While you move on to the next order of business and the green grass grows in, when your memory of the beech tree fades, its root system will slowly lose life force and rot silently under the ground of your treeless yard. The small ecosystem that the tree once supported will feel a void and there will be a powerful energy and beauty missing from your location: something I will never forget when I drive by — and keep on driving.
Laurie A. Couture
Newmarket
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