Dear Editor,
After witnessing a stand of 39 healthy old-growth trees shamefully logged bare – despite significant opposing public feedback – to make way for an unnecessarily dense new development across from my house last summer I reviewed the updated tree bylaws and attended the information session with hopefulness.
Alarmingly, the city’s new plan to “improve” Maple Ridge’s tree canopy and protect our valuable existing trees is underwhelming and shows a complete lack of priority by the city.
In the city’s recent presentation, they acknowledged the importance of trees for our quality of life and as a strategy to mitigate climate change. They reported that the majority of citizen survey respondents indicated a strong wish for increased tree canopy in the city.
Council has responded with a plan that strives to increase our tree canopy by two per cent during the next 24 years.
Considering the margins for error in the canopy measurements this target is essentially equivalent to no improved canopy at all.
In comparison, our neighbours in Langley is proposing an increase of seven per cent and even Vancouver is planning for a five-per-cent growth.
Here in Maple Ridge we can all apparently look forward to decades more of allowing developers to annihilate our beautiful and irreplaceable existing native trees unchecked.
Surely, with the backing of a majority of the citizens and climate science, a city claiming to be “Bold By Nature” could put forward a plan that is indeed bold.
As we are all facing increasing climate related heat waves, forest fires, and floods, another 24 years of this “business as usual” is unacceptable.
Maple Ridge urgently needs and deserves a plan that actually increases the tree canopy.
Verity Howarth, Maple Ridge
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