Back to poor John. The government’s tree replacement ordinance will require John to plant the trees somewhere else since they won’t fit on his lot. The estimated cost is $100,000. The government doesn’t care. It just wants the trees. John is arguing that the government can’t tell him where to plant the trees off his site. This matter was not resolved at deadline. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.
Not only do builders and land developers generally want to save trees, but they are doing a pretty good job of it. Let me give you some facts to back that up. First, consider that an engineering firm in Columbia, MO, studied the rapidly growing areas around St. Louis from the 1960s to the late 1990s. During the 30 years of rapid growth, the study found that there was actually a 31% increase in total tree canopy in the growing areas studied in St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson Counties.
That 31% increase is not included in Missouri’s forest acreage, which has been increasing, not decreasing. In Missouri’s forested areas, there have been perhaps two million or more acres added over the past three decades. And nationally, measured by cubic feet, America has been growing more trees than it has been harvesting every decade since the 1930s. The 12 Northeastern states — among the most densely populated in the nation — regained almost 26 million acres of forest between 1907 and 1997. That, in turn, has created an explosion of wildlife.
The Wall Street Journal reports that “more people live in closer proximity to more wild animals in the eastern U.S. than at any time in history anywhere on the planet.” Black bears, white-tailed deer, wild turkeys and numerous other animal populations are not being threatened by human land use, but rather, the mushrooming populations of these wild animals are bringing them more and more into conflict with their human neighbors.
So, let’s take some credit for all the trees that are being saved and planted. The facts show that we’re gaining substantial tree canopy, even with land clearing for new homes. In the meantime, John Trojnacki waits and wonders.
Patrick S. Sullivan is executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Greater St. Louis. This article was reprinted from the association’s publication, “Builder News.”
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