Dalton trees go bye bye

Special thanks to Folio for inspiring two eco related posts on the same day.

Folio reported this week that:

Jim Dalton of the Dalton Agency heralded his company’s arrival downtown with a plan to remove part of the urban canopy.

He successfully lobbied the JEDC to allow him to remove three oaks in front the building at Laura and Monroe (the old Boomtown location). Nice. Nothing says welcome to the neighborhood like cutting down trees. Just ask the City just who spent countless thousands on restoring the Springfield canopy. No doubt someone thought it was a good idea to cut all those trees down too.

According to Jacksonville’s own tree protection ordinance amendment*, passed in 2000, all large hardwood trees with a 3-foot circumference or greater will be protected. A 3-foot circumference also equals a “dbh” (diameter at breast height) of 11.5 inches.

Dalton trees go bye bye

Eenie meenie miney moe

However this ordinance simply encourages and promotes the protection and conservation of existing trees. It does not prevent these types of trees from being removed. So lets look at some options for not cutting the trees down:

  • Trim them so they don’t look so messy
  • Contribute to the city’s Tree Protection and Related Expenses Trust Fund which provides for the planting or replanting of trees
  • Plant some less messy trees of equal stature
  • Pay a landscape architect to design something to accent and play off the trees
  • Stop hating the earth

JEA’s brochure on trees says:

Surprisingly, trees can also help improve water quality in rivers, streams and lakes. A tree’s extensive root system holds soil in place, reducing erosion caused by rainfall. This process reduces the amount of soil that washes into our precious waterways.

Isn’t our “most valuable resource”, the St. Johns River, just 5 blocks away? Wouldn’t the river stand to benefit from the trees remaining in place? JEA seems to think so.

I could not find a link to the ordinance on the COJ site so I don’t know if it’s still active.