We must stop the clearcutting of Taylor Run.
Taylor Run is Alexandria’s unique urban forest. More than a group of individual trees, forests are collaborative and co-dependent, with a complex web of roots and fungi that connects all the trees and understory plants. This network allows the exchange of nutrients, oxygen, carbon, water, and hormones, removes harmful bacteria, and alerts neighboring trees to danger.
Studies by Suzanne Simard, the well-known researcher and professor of forest ecology at the University of British Columbia, show that old-growth giants she calls “Mother Trees,” share “forest wisdom” and resources with young trees, improving their chances for survival.
Dying trees also direct much of their carbon toward young trees. Even, decomposing trees (mistakenly called “trash”) continue to release their carbon into the ground, where it enriches the soil. Fallen trees also help to limit bank erosion and preserve wildlife habitats by reducing the velocity of the water flowing downstream. This promotes the health of the water that spills into the Chesapeake Bay.
Clearcutting to make room for heavy equipment will seriously damage the forest — not just because it will strip out carbon, but because it will disrupt the relationships that enable the forest to function like a tightly-knit family.
Now — without having tested water samples drawn from Taylor Run — Alexandria wants to turn this natural stream into a storm drain. But without benchmark tests done before and after the “restoration,” how can we know if the natural channel design approach is effective?
Meanwhile, the harm done through clearcutting will endure beyond our lifetime.
The question now is: If the forest doesn’t benefit, if wildlife doesn’t benefit, if residents of Alexandria with flooded basements don’t benefit, if the Bay doesn’t benefit, if air and water quality don’t benefit, if the planet doesn’t benefit — who benefits?
Barbara Fried
Alexandria
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