In my latest LIHerald.com column, I look at how Nassau County can save its remaining trees….
Posted December 5, 2019
By Scott Brinton
It was around 8 a.m. on a Saturday, if I remember correctly. The chainsaw revved, then wailed, as it tore into the old oak tree in the far corner of my neighbor’s yard. First, this fine specimen’s long branches were felled. Then its wide trunk was split in half. Finally, the lower torso was cut down, leaving only a stump.
It was a vibrant oak that had stood for half a century or more, by my estimation — oaks grow about a foot a year, and this one was roughly 50 feet tall. But there it was, this mighty tree, dead and gone in a matter of hours.
My neighbor, who sold and moved shortly afterward, had already removed all of the other trees and bushes in his backyard, leaving only a grassy plain measuring 1/32 of an acre. The oak was the tallest and most majestic of the lot.
I’m an ardent dendrophile — lover of trees — and my stomach was knotted as I listened to the oak come down section by section, as if dying a slow death by a hundred stab wounds. This was more than a decade ago; I forget the precise year. But I remember the bright sun and the whine of the chainsaw.
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