Editor:

Why is it that when something wrong happens, everyone reacts with violence. A tree fell and now everyone wants to cut down every Eucalyptus tree on campus. I want to point out that the tree mentioned in your article that fell between Clark V and Walker was not a Eucalyptus but a Coast Live Oak, a Southern California native. If that had killed someone, which it very well could have, would you call for the removal of all Oaks in Claremont? Yes, Eucalyptus trees require a little more attention than the average tree. But every tree is capable of toppling. Another point is that here is not just one type of Eucalyptus tree on campus, there are at least five. Some grow huge others are smaller. Some have peely bark, others have ridged bark and some have bark colored like a rainbow. Even though Eucalyptus trees are not native trees, they do well in this dry climate and hardly require watering.

They are undeniably great shade trees. Can you imagine Claremont in October without that canopy? I’m sure that half of the people here would not have come if it were not for the climate control that the Eucalyptus offers.

Trees are inherently dangerous. In 1996, a snow storm in April brought huge trees and branches crashing to the ground in my home town of Denver.

Roofs were smashed, cars were destroyed, and I made 150 dollars a day for a week helping people clean up the mess. As for Pomona college’s resposibility, I’m guessing that if Marston swamp were not watered with however many billions of gallons of water a day even when it does rain, than the ground would be more stable. Yes, this campus should revert to native landscaping. We should plant drought tolerant grass, we should plant native Oaks and Sycamores as older dangerous trees are removed. However, we do not need to undergo full out genocide against a species of tree that has as much of a right to be here as we do.

Sincerely,

Kevin Bingham ‘01