Dear Editor:
Re: Tree Protection Bylaw Invites Disaster, May 1 Mailbox.
A response to J.R. Thomson’s letter is important before the misinformation in his letter takes on a life of its own.
There are many old-growth trees on residential lots in West Vancouver, almost all Douglas firs. Most are located above the rocky foreshore of Burrard Inlet.
Why is this the case when there are very few along the foreshore of the City and District of North Vancouver?
The reason is that it was too difficult to fell a tree on the rocky bluffs that form much of the West Vancouver foreshore without damaging the tree. It was also difficult to bring a large log to tidewater for loading onto a vessel.
Douglas firs are not top-heavy and shallow-rooted. They are, in fact, more deeply rooted than the hemlocks that are the usual victims of blow-down and breakage due to dwarf mistletoe infection.
The old-growth trees in the parks referred to in the Thomson letter are not decadent.
This is an argument that has been promoted by the logging industry for decades to justify logging of old-growth forests.
West Vancouver should protect its old-growth Douglas firs for their natural heritage and esthetic value, as well as for the fact that old-growth Douglas firs are the preferred nest trees of bald eagles as well as their preference for tall trees for what is called perch-hunting where the birds conserve energy by spotting prey from a high vantage point.
David Cook, biologist
North Vancouver