Has anyone besides me noticed how much wood is being used to “protect” trees?

See the boxes surrounding single trees on the boulevard? As far as I can tell these trees are in no danger from the development going on behind the banners on the right.

Here is another local example.

There is a metal fence up against the trees surrounding the school baseball field getting an upgrade, however an additional fence was built to protect the trees. Look at all that lumber.

We are seeing this kind of ‘over the top’ protection more and more while at the same time I have seen multiple trees cut down in local parks, some with log ends draped with Weyerhaeuser (Timber, Land and Forest Products) tarp. I don’t know the reason.

Prime Minister Trudeau promises to plant 2 billion trees but in the meantime developers are allowed to destroy natural habitat and loggers continue to cut old growth trees. Here is an article form the Surrey Now Leader: Stream of consciousness – stewards worry over fate of Little Campbell River – Surrey Now-Leader. It’s a sad story. Below is an excerpt from the following Vancouver is Awesome article regarding the approved 245-hectare South Campbell Heights industrial park: Metro Vancouver board votes to industrialize Surrey’s Little Campbell River area.

Local scientists and environmentalists argued paving over the greenspace will cause not just pollution but unnaturally high stream flows that will threaten baby salmon and create a higher risk of floods at the bay, especially as stronger storms appear to be more frequent from a changing climate in B.C. Many pointed out that by removing the green space it also creates higher urban temperatures during heat waves (67 Surrey residents died in the unprecedented 2021 “heat dome”). The proposed development also sits atop a large aquifer serving homes in the region. 

The City of Surrey just OK’d a road through Bear Creek Park and not everybody is happy. Read about it here: “Road Rage: Opposition mounts anew to Surrey’s Bear Creek traffic plan – Agassiz Harrison Observer” 

“On 84th Avenue at the east side, that road will definitely go through the park, actually going through a stand of old cottonwood, for about 250 metres, that is within the park boundary,” Werring said. “The issue is here the mayor is saying it’s not going through the park, well it is going through the park. It is a park. It’s signed everywhere, everywhere you look at this, there’s a sign ‘Welcome to your park.’ There’s park trails, park trails that will be intersected, and cut off.”

Someone has put a little bit of thought into the PM’s tree planting project, which, incidentally still does not appear to have begun: “Planting trees “doesn’t make any sense” in the fight against climate change”

“Forests need to have a permanence of 100 years to be effective”

“You plant the forest but you don’t start seeing carbon retention and sequestration happening for at least 10 years after they’re planted, so there’s a long lag time in doing that,” explained Gambill, whose company allows people who capture atmospheric carbon to sell it to people who want to offset their emissions.

“And then you have to maintain that forest and make sure it isn’t burned or cut down.”Forests need to have a permanence of 100 years to be effective carbon stores”, he said.

“So you plant your saplings and then you have to maintain the forest for 100 years. That’s multiple generations of people. How many companies last 100 years these days? How on earth is anyone going to afford to maintain that forest, hiring the team of people you need to do that? It doesn’t make any sense.”

We are definitely using a lot of wood to protect the trees on our boulevards, not to mention the less than environmentally friendly plastic waste. If we are getting rid of plastic bags, why not take a look at this?

To me this just doesn’t add up or support the climate change hype.