All rights reserved. There's a little of the poet Joyce Kilmer in most of us when it comes to appreciating the loveliness of trees. Staff writer Mike Salinero pointed out in Sunday's Times that trees play a much more important role in this community than just making it more beautiful.
Trees also are nature's first line of defense against heat and smog.
And pollution is something that will continue to worsen if we fail to plant new trees and to protect those we have. Part of the problem is that the city doesn't make tree planting part of its planning process, particularly for large developments like shopping malls whose black asphalt and dark roofs draw heat like a magnet. City officials are hesitant to move in those directions, fearing it would further inhibit residential development, which has been primarily centered in the county in recent years. What's obviously needed is for city and county officials to work on a joint effort to intensify tree-planting in developed areas in the city or out. People also need to know more about how to care for the trees they have.