Wells Fargo cut down some trees to make its sign more readable. When local groups made a stink, the bank offered to plant trees and support a tree education program. That was not enough. Judy Mattox of the Sierra Club is demanding that the bank also donate to Asheville Greenworks to support tree planting, donate to the Western North Carolina Alliance to develop tree literature [hopefully not printed on dead trees], and “sponsor a tree-mapping effort which [sic.] would identify significant Asheville trees so that management needs can be documented and carried out appropriately.” She failed to demand some money for me.
The city is responding by trying to require property owners wishing to remove trees in the future to be subject to consideration by the Alternative Compliance Subcommittee of the Asheville Tree Commission. But the trees cut by Wells Fargo were Treasured Trees, and that kind of tree will need even more attention. It is suggested the city create an “inventory and tracking system.” [Hopefully this bureaucracy will be 100% electronic.]
“We’ll go out and look at them all, and take new photos, and do a new brochure [hopefully not made from dead trees] that lists them all,” she tells Xpress. In addition, the group wants to develop some new signage [hopefully not made from dead trees or products availed by big-oil refineries] that labels them.
Susan Roderick, director of Asheville Greenworks, respects property rights enough not to want to dictate tree cutting. She does, however, wish to “build up a positive aura and PR around a tree,” and make sure owners of Treasured Trees are aware of the designations. Mattox wants to raise consciousness and get neighborhoods involved in “nominating significant trees.”
