Trees

When my wife and I came home from a movie July 30, we found a crew of tree butchers hard at work butchering every tree along our street, including one particularly beautiful shade tree that brought comfort, joy and shade to our back patio. They had also butchered 12 trees across the street, even though the Department of Water and Power had trimmed these down below the power lines about one month ago. The trees across the street did pose a hazard to power lines but the power on our side of the street is underground. The trees posed no hazard to power lines or traffic.

Even though the city planted these saplings years ago, we have nourished them for 25 years. Now their shade scarcely shelters a sparrow. Must we wait another 25 years for shade trees or will they be butchered again by men under orders from bureaucrats in Los Angeles? Is the policy on tree trimming so broad as to permit butchering of all trees in an area rather than selective trimming?

THOMAS J. McKIMMEY

Van Nuys