Commentary: Save Our Trees!

By Guest

Dear Editor:

I attended the March 23 Conservation Commission hearing and learned that all the trees on the former Plymouth Rubber site along Neponset and Revere streets along the Canton River/East Branch of the Neponset River are slated to be cut down, stumps removed, and all vegetation removed, in a poorly planned attempt by the town and developer to meet Army Corps of Engineer maintenance standards for the water channel. But no effort has been made to ask the Army Corps for permission to leave the existing trees and vegetation beyond the edge of the channel in place.

Normally, a river is protected by the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, but this is considered to be a “diversion channel,” and the Wetlands Protection Act doesn’t seem to apply. Under the Wetlands Protection Act, vegetation within 100 feet of a wetland or river cannot be removed without permission because of their value to the waterway and the environment. Trees and their roots are a major stabilizer of soil, help prevent erosion, and absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Destroying any mature tree means an increase in greenhouse gases and speeds climate change. The mature trees on the former Plymouth Rubber site provide us with beauty, an invaluable gift, and perhaps more importantly, a home for birds and other wildlife. We citizens of Canton cannot afford to lose any mature trees, especially not the big evergreens that absorb so much more carbon dioxide than smaller trees, shrubs and grasses. I beg the town of Canton to request permission from the Army Corps of Engineers to leave the trees and other natural vegetation along the edge of the Canton River, beyond the limits of the channel itself. Removing the trees and their roots would inevitably lead to increased erosion of the soil along the river way.

I also learned that the town and developer plan to shut off the river to do this work, as if it were a faucet. That is a terrible idea for all that live in that river and downstream of it! While the Army Corps of Engineers and project proponents may refer to this water body as a “diversion channel,” it is in fact a fully functioning river and is channeling water from the pond above it to the East Branch of the Neponset below it. This will cause irreparable harm to the fish, turtles, and other animals that live in and around the river.

Just as a rose by any other name is still a rose, a river by any other name is still a river, and provides valuable services to our community and environment. We need to respect and preserve nature, because in fact our lives depend on it. The town of Canton and the project developer must come up with a new plan to maintain the flood control qualities of the Canton River without destroying it in the process.

Sincerely,

Ann MacAdam

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