Remove tree stumps now, and plant a new tree in their place!

Have you noticed the hundreds (yes, hundreds) of tree "stumps" through out the city of Huntington? I have, as I spend a lot of my time in the various Huntington neighborhoods.

Les Brown was quoted as saying, "Someone's sitting in the shade today, because someone planted a tree a long time ago." We citizens must become aware of the poor physical condition of our elderly trees and face the fact that large trees have been cut down over the years (leaving only their stump as a memorial) and never replaced. When was the last time a tree was planted in Huntington with the interests of future generations in mind? It takes decades for a tree to mature? If we don't start removing stumps and planting trees in their place, the citizens living in the Huntington of the future will not have large trees to enjoy - their beauty, shade and environmental advantages will be a thing of the past.

Others have noted the value and beauty of trees:

Except during the nine months before he draws his first breath, no man manages his affairs as well as a tree does. - George Bernard Shaw

If I thought I was going to die tomorrow, I should nevertheless plant a tree today. - Stephan Girard

A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.- William Blake

A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit. - Elton Trueblood (1900-1994)

"When I judge art, I take my painting and put it next to a God made object like a tree or flower. If it clashes, it is not art". - Paul Cezanne

The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.- William Blake, 1799

For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.- Martin Luther, 1483-1546

He that planteth a tree is a servant of God, he provideth a kindness for many generations, and faces that he haith not seen shall bless him. - Henry Van Dyke 1852-1933

I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree. - Joyce Kilmer 1886-1918

A woodland in full color is awesome as a forest fire, in magnitude at least, but a single tree is like a dancing tongue of flame to warm the heart. - Hal Borland

If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees. - Hal Borland

I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do. - Willa Cather 1873-1947

Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does Nature, because in her inventions, nothing is lacking and nothing is superfluous. - Leonardo da Vinci. It is time to start - we need a strategic plan to systematically remove all tree stumps throughout the city and to begin a long range planting schedule for new trees. Huntington ... let's keep it clean and green!