Save the old trees at Legion Park

Regarding the letter, “Costly tree plan is shortsighted”: It is time to bring some sanity to the parks department which has hatched the outrageous idea of removing the stately old trees that surround Legion Hall and are using the arsenic cleanup as leverage.

The majestic trees that surround Legion Hall are not just any “big old trees” but are in fact part of the original Evergreen Arboretum plantings from the early 1960s when the scope of the Arboretum was much larger.

Having lived in a protected historic neighborhood in north Everett for years, I am stunned that the city does not provide the same historic protection for its mature trees as it does its homes. I understand that there is a faction within the Parks Department that wants 90 percent of the mature trees taken out of Legion Park in order to get “more interesting” trees, at a huge cost to the taxpayer. They first tried to blame the Department of Ecology, but this lie was uncovered by the letter writer after talking with the Department of Ecology. The public needs to be aware that there is talk of a public meeting in August and if they care at all about their heritage and preserving the work of the arboretum founders of 51 years ago, they had better get involved. The days of public officials continually going back to the taxpayer well is over; it is almost dry. The idea itself is pathetic and the means that have been used to promote it should not be tolerated.

Paul Schumacher

Camano Island