Concerned about trees

The rape and destruction of trees is all too common in Thousand Oaks. The example of overzealous and irresponsible pruning reported in the May 10 Thousand Oaks Acorn is but one example.

We live in the Waverly area, and I am frequently shocked whenever shortsighted homeowners rip out big trees. I assume it's because they're messy or they might give concealment to an imagined intruder.

I don't mind being called a "tree-hugger" because I like breathing the oxygen they make for us, and I love their shade, which saves power by cooling the house in hot weather--which we're going to have more of, as time goes on--and also some of our trees make fruit or flowers for us to enjoy as well.

We even use the fallen leaves to enrich our lousy clay-like soil. That "mess" trees sometimes make is a small price to pay for so many pleasures, and I feel that planting and maintaining trees is more important.

It is one small way we can offset all the damage we humans have done to our little planet. Pete Gerard Thousand Oaks