Action disrespects natural beauty

Davis is a resident of Bel Air.

By Kelvin Davis

Last Wednesday, I read with shock and dismay about the decision
to cut down the magnificent and historic Eucalyptuses that have
graced UCLA’s southern entrance for over 72 years (“University
cuts down 50 Eucalyptus trees,” Daily Bruin, News, June
25).

Having now seen the results of your actions, I am deeply
saddened by the loss of these natural monuments to the community. I
am also sorry for thousands of others who will now enter a UCLA
missing the sense of distinction, rich history and character that
these spectacular trees had imparted.

Having denuded the school’s southern entrance, there is
still time to reconsider your decision to do the same to the
campus’s distinctive northern entrance and border along
Sunset Boulevard.

I was born in Los Angeles and now live in Bel Air immediately
north of campus. I admittedly am a great admirer of old trees, as I
have come to appreciate ““ amid all the city’s crowds
and chaos ““ that these trees are magical in their ability to
provide relief and rejuvenation.

To me and many others, old-growth trees are one of the truly
defining and beautifying characteristics of West L.A.

  Illustration by JASON CHEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Without old buildings (few in West L.A. are as old as UCLA’s
original Eucalyptuses), these trees are our monuments. Their ages
alone makes them important, meaningful and irreplaceable. These are
our landmarks and all of us are their custodians.

UCLA has been given stewardship of these treasured state assets
on behalf not just of faculty, staff and students, but of all other
California taxpayers as well.

These historic creations should not simply be subject to
questions regarding what is “appropriate” landscaping.
They were here before you or I and they should be afforded the
protection and respect that elders deserve.

As I compose this piece, I am standing beneath a majestic
Eucalyptus along Sunset Boulevard, closest to the Royce Avenue
entrance. It is nothing short of awe-inspiring to stand beside this
tree ““ its massive trunk is 8 feet in diameter and 21 feet
around, all supporting its 100-foot height.

As I gaze up at it, I feel like I have on thousands of other
occasions driving, biking or running along Sunset. I am humbled by
the tree’s size and age, and relaxed by the rustling of its
leaves high above me in the wind. For a moment I can escape from
the realities of the great city around me, reminded of
nature’s beauty and omnipotence.

In our world of man-made immediacy and artificiality, these
trees stand as reminders of our limitations and of nature’s
unique power. The tragedy is that what nature has taken close to
100 years to create, chain saws can kill in seconds. And once
destroyed, no tree which you attempt to replace these with will
““ during our lifetimes, or those of our children ““ ever
achieve the grandeur of these remaining Eucalyptuses.

To claim that these trees are about to fall down seems
preposterous ““ especially when standing next to them and
feeling the incredible strength of their trunks. I would encourage
you to seek a second opinion.

To cut them all down based on hypothetical risks strikes me as
an extreme irrationality ““ akin to banning automobiles on the
UCLA campus because of risks to pedestrians and bicyclists.

It’s indisputable that limbs will occasionally fall from
nature’s oldest and largest creations , but that is a modest
risk we bear in return for the immeasurable benefits we receive
from sharing space with these towering witnesses of our past.

And needless to say, aggressive trimming (and even cabling) can
virtually eliminate the risk of large limb failures.

So I ask you to please reconsider the fate of the remaining
landmark Eucalyptuses at the campus’s northern entrance.

Given an action which is so irreversible, why not yield to
beauty, to protecting the old, to preserving something so
irreplaceable and nurturing to UCLA’s deserved distinction
and character? Trim them only if you must!