A tree can defend itself against almost anything but man. It can't walk away, fly away or hide. It can't strike back if attacked. Neither size nor age can protect it from the chain saw, bulldozer or suffocation from construction dust.

For years, South Pasadena has been known as "The City of Trees". Of the 50 miles of 217 named streets in South Pasadena, 42 are named after trees. If the 710 Freeway 6.2 mile extension is completed through South Pasadena, it has been estimated that 7,000 mature trees will be destroyed.

As we become more urbanized, our dependency on trees to help clear the air increases. At the same time, we are destroying more and more trees, only to replace them with our concrete freeways.

In addition to being necessary to our survival and their own intrinsic beauty, studies have shown trees contribute as much as 20 percent of the value of residential property, $73 in annual air conditioning savings, and $75 in annual soil erosion and storm water control.

The monetary value of trees in California cities has been computed by the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers. The Council considered species, size, condition and location.

They figured mature trees ranged in value from $730-$2,242 each, with the price of an average mature tree at approximately $1,700. In addition, trees are expected to increase in value from five to 15 percent each year, simply due to growth.

Throughout history, trees have provided food, shelter, summer cooling, winter insulation, a refuge for animals and birds, an object of beauty and a raw material for medicine, housing, furniture, boats and aircraft.

With the increased concern of global warming, a recent study showed the planting and maintenance of trees necessary for human survival is estimated at $2,500 per capita annually.

In the absence of trees or other green vegitation, a manufacturing process needed to remove the carbon dioxide we exhale and produce oxygen would require a manufacturing process to replicate the function of trees. Manufacturing costs are estimated to be more than $50,000 per capita annually to do what a tree does.

It seems strange, in this time of environmental awareness and budgetary crunch, that we are asked to substitute slabs of concrete for highly efficient and attractive "tree factories".

Back in December, 1940, the night before the dedication and opening of the Pasadena (110) Freeway, there was a meeting of members of the Kawie Indian tribe and South Pasadena city officials. The Indians, dressed in full war bonnet regalia, sat and smoked the peace pipe and "officially relinquished all Indian rights to the Arroyo".

Now, 50 years later, like the Indians, we have been asked to relinquish our land. Refusing to do so, our land is being taken away from us.

Here is an old Indian quote:

Here, where the big trees were so recently logged-off, the jagged teeth of stumps and broken arms of branches question the meaning of sanity.