TREES: Stand up for these sentinels

For those of us who didn't know, "Rosenberry Drive" is actually "The Dike Road." Having been "born and raised" in Coeur d'Alene I know the beauty, the uniqueness and the versatility of "The Dike Road." For generations families have enjoyed this PUBLIC section of Lake Coeur d'Alene. We were raised learning to swim here, our families had picnics with other families here, and not just on the weekends but after work in the evenings. A few years later the teenagers would have their own picnics and gatherings there and then even more years later, they would bring their families and continue these traditions.

In my 58 years I have never heard of the possibility of flooding or of damage being done to this area due to these great old trees. How many floods have we actually had here anyway? So why now? Is it because of the disasters that have taken place in the South? Really? Are you that scared that this could happen to us here, in a NON-COASTAL region?

These great trees are more than a hundred years old and in a brief time you want to totally destroy their beauty with a quick whip of your saw. I realize that removing them would not completely shut this area down but by removing them you are removing the beauty, destroying the draw and erasing any chance of continuing the traditions this area has offered for generations.

Joni Mitchell said it best in her song "Big Yellow Taxi."

"They took all the trees and put ‘em in a tree museum

And then they charged all the people 25 bucks just to see ‘em

Don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you've got till it's gone

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

Please stop before it's too late!

LaDONNA ALLEN-DISMUKE

Spokane