The past year has seen the devastation of thousands of trees in Poway. While this event has been justified as a public safety issue, one doesn’t need to be a tree expert to know that many of the trees removed were not “dead, dying or diseased” but merely “poorly spaced” by someone’s definition. Safety is on a continuum and always comes at a cost.
Our family moved to Poway largely to escape the suburban blight of strip malls and live in a community that was a “City in the Country.” One of the selling points was our twice-daily drive down Twin Peaks Road, with beautiful trees lining both sides. What is the price of sacrificing the beauty of our town for the highly unlikely event of “poorly spaced” trees falling down and completely blocking evacuation routes during an all-consuming wildfire?
Safety at all costs is a Pyrrhic victory.
— Scott Hansen, Poway