Editor,

Reading all the negative letters concerning the cutting of the post office Garry oak tree, it seems to me that the ones protesting its removal most are the ones with the least knowledge of the health of the tree and the hazard it had become.

I understand that Mayor Scott Dudley and the city council hired certified arborists to carefully examine the tree in 2012 and 2013, as had been done before over the last 20 years.

It was found to be rotting and a definite hazard. Limbs have broken and fallen several times in the past year.

As for myself, my favorite parking sport at the post office was there in that one space next to the tree, as it was the easiest and safest place to back out of.

It worried me each time I used the space that another large limb would fall. I am grateful the tree is gone.

Another good reason is that now that it is gone, when you leave the post office parking lot and try to enter Eighth Avenue, you can see all the way to the corner to Highway 20. Much safer

I understand it was somewhat of a sacred landmark to some, but why in the world did they have to build highways all around it and cover nearly every inch of adjacent soil with blacktop and concrete?

Where was the tree supposed to get water and nutrients?

Sad that it had to go, but what about all the trees it took to build your houses? And wouldn’t it be better to try and help our neighbors in Oso than to lament the loss of a tree?

James E. Rehaume

Oak Harbor