Skip to the posts
Buffalo's neighborhood journals since 2003 🍀 Patrick Spicy Devil Logan🌭 Sahlen🥨 Weber Spank🥟 Pierogi🐸 Scaj🍺 Labatt Utica Pink Cherio❄️ Snow Murder

tinypliny’s journal

RPCI cuts down trees for no real reason

· · 🌡️ 39°F

I am very depressed that my workplace decided to cut down all the full-grown trees in front of my office and build an ugly cement rink and footpaths that were completely unnecessary. It is true that some of the employees complained about suffering falls in front of the building because of the uneven footpath. Instead of advising caution while walking, recommending sensible footwear and non-invasively fixing the few uneven concrete slabs in the walkway, my workplace, in its infinite wisdom, hired an industrial-scale landscaping crew/demolition squad, dug up all the grass and uprooted the mature trees that had probably grown there for nearly 40-50 years, judging by their girth and root-size.

The trees brought character to the building and filtered light through their beautiful foliage. When they turned, they were awe-inspiring and soothing to the senses. More importantly, they were part of the natural air-quality control near the periphery of the campus where employees, who are probably blind to the ill-effects of smoking, continue to smoke like chimneys and blow out puffs of smoke all through the day. As far as I know, these four trees were causing no structural damage to the building. I would be interested in hearing why exactly they needed to be chopped down and uprooted for no reason other than to satisfy some dull and unimaginative aesthetic.

The "tree of life" - a sad-looking evergreen at the centre of the Kaminski gardens in the campus was structurally damaged during the October snow storm a couple years back. A million emails were sent out to the employees and everyone else to assure people that the pruning of that tree was only made in the good faith that it would grow again. However, there has been no word of explanation, or even acknowledgement that cutting down four healthy trees is a sizable and real concern.

It is not enough that our recycling program is so patchy, that the employees misuse paper as if it grows out of thin air and that we "are proud to partner with" coke. Now, we go and cut down trees that have slowly grown over 40-50 years. All of this, compounded, makes me think that we are a cancer fighting institution only in name. Through our actions, we are indirectly destroying the very environment that contributes to our state of health. Our non-existing conservation strategy and poor decisions subtly have a detrimental effect on the health of our neighbouring communities.

Deforestation can NEVER be justified by some perverted notion of aesthetics or urban planning. I am sorry, but whoever argues that landscaping justifies cutting down full grown trees is an environmentally oblivious selfish human.


PS: The official suggestion box comments have been ignored since June. I'd be glad to hear what logic they could possibly have for cutting down the trees.
471 words · edited Nov 8, 2010

💬 10 comments

  1. metalpeter ·

    Well there are two ways you can look at this depending on your view.....
    1. 1 It sounds like those are pretty big trees. You know what that means a lot of money can be made when the company sells or uses the wood itself for something.
    1. 2 If this is the same company that mows the grass and does snow removal then getting rid of those trees makes there job much easier and again saves them money, if they aren't that company then maybe they get an illegal kick back of some kind.
    1. 3 There is also the issue of liability: There is a chance that when the trees (depending on the kind) get big enough the roots will become a problem. It is possible for roots up lift up side walks and make them uneven. And if the tree continues to grow as all the roots get bigger and stronger the problem will get worse. If this company saw that and didn't do any thing about it they would be responsible for any broken sidewalks or anyone who got hurt. But there is another side to this. Again not sure how big the trees are or how far along they are in the life cycle or growth cycle. At some point they will get to a size that could be pretty big and at some point die or start to die or get some nasty disease. At that point they will become a danger and you don't want trees to get to that point around people....

    I don't work for the company so I don't know I'm guessing mostly #1 and also that way they can do what ever they want with the walk way and not worry about the trees getting in their way.....
  2. paul ·

    Although I like trees, I think that whole building needs to go at some point. Did you ever look at it from Google maps sattelite view. I don't think a build could utilize its property any less efficiently. I bet they build a more dense square structure there at some point.
  3. tinypliny ·

    Good points, @metalpeter. Didn't think about those - especially #3. I still am not very happy. How do people walk on grass or uneven ground? If they fall, would they sue nature? It is ridiculous that people feel the need to wear the most atrocious shoes, walk with their ears glued to cellphones and then blame someone else for falling. :/


    @paul - that building used to be a pediatric cancer ward. Not one office is without a window. (excluding the basement which was the laundry services back in the day)
  4. uncutsaniflush ·

    hmmm "atrocious shoes"?? Ah,it would be wonderful indeed, if one could avoid tripping and falling by not wearing "atrocious shoes". I, personally, have tripped and fallen wearing steel-toed workboots with non-skid, oil-resistant soles (the ultimate in sensible safety-oriented "non-atrocious" footwear). I also believe that I am not unique in this.
  5. tinypliny ·

    I guess people can trip and suffer falls in any situation, @uncutsaniflush. I was being superficial.

    Somehow that doesn't sit well as a justification for cutting trees, though.
  6. tinypliny ·

    What are oil-resistant soles? Are they similar to the spiky ice-resistant soles?
  7. uncutsaniflush ·

    @tinypliny - In my haste to answer I neglected to include the phrase "slip resistant" to the Decalogue of attributes possessed by my "non-atrocious" safety boots. Oil resistant and slip resistant are not the same thing despite being linked together in footwear. Oil resistant means that the shoes will not fall apart when exposed to grease and oil. In other words, glues used are not oil-soluble. Slip resistant refers to the thread pattern and sole that meets some ASTM standard for such stuff to minimize the risk of slips on wet surfaces.

    I'm a big fan of trees. Trees are especially wonderful in an urban setting. I think cityscapes without trees tend to be ugly. I don't know why RPCI did what it did. Maybe you are correct and someone there decided to spend tens of thousands of dollars to protect those who wear "atrocious" shoes on campus. But I tend to discount that possibility. Of course, if the administrator who oked the tree massacre is someone who crosses that area in "atrocious" shoes, all bets are off.

    I suspect that this is part of some "master" plan to renovate the RPCI public spaces; however, unnecessary that might seem to some.
  8. tinypliny ·

    Sadly, I think you might be right about the evil "masterplan". :(

    It's not like they peeled down some hideous green wallpaper from the 70s. They probably took the word "renovation" in such a literal and crude sense that they got rid of the timeless trees.
  9. tinypliny ·

    And whoa - the whole idea of walking in oil strong enough to dissolve what holds your shoes together is somewhat disturbing. So, can regular vegetable/soybean/corn/canola/olive/coconut oil dissolve shoe-glue?! This is a whole new aspect of occupational safety I never thought about...
  10. uncutsaniflush ·

    @tinypliny - my understanding is that if a glue is oil-soluble eventually any oil exposure will weaken it. Furthermore, it is my understanding that when it comes to shoe-glue and oil/grease the problem is repeated exposure. I don't think that any shoe will fall apart just because you step into a puddle of grease once.

💬 Write a comment