Guest Opinion | By Rene Amy: Quote the Lorax

Every day, my hair gets a bit more grey and my beard grows a bit more shaggy, making my morning appearance in the mirror more and more Lorax-like. (At least I’m not also getting shorter — at least not yet.)

Yup, I sometimes feel like I’m transforming into that fabled Seussian character — the short, furry, sad creature with a cautionary tale to tell that’s an absolute favorite of teachers around the globe because “The Lorax” is all about the need to protect the environment, especially trees (and, most-especially, truffula trees).

And, perhaps, my desire to protect and nurture arboreal splendor whenever and wherever possible has intensified since the Eaton Fire destroyed my own property, which I had nicknamed “the forest” because its lush canopy blocked spying eyes from satellites, and created a wonderful, shady, and much-cooler microclimate on roasting-hot days. A respite from the rat race of Los Angeles, my home — and my “forest” of precious trees — was all destroyed by the fire. Perhaps my well-documented efforts to develop, undertake, and manage the field aspects of the free tree-watering program begun by Altadena visionary Claire Robinson, the head of Amigos de los Rios, after the fire, and all those days of dragging fire hoses across burn-scar properties under the hot Altadena sun may have created within me a more-active Lorax than Theodore Geisel ever imagined. Add to that my history of activism regarding the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) — especially in doing my part to expose its history of illegal acts, criminal employees, waste of taxpayer resources, and the like — and somehow the moment seems right to talk about trees.

Simply put, PUSD is actively seeking to kill 193 otherwise-healthy-and-safe trees — and has already begun doing so. Many of those trees are protected by local regulations, but the school district doesn’t seem to care. Only because of public outcry was this paused briefly, but efforts since have restarted.

Educators like to speak about “teachable moments” — and the ongoing efforts by PUSD to needlessly kill so many trees is a textbook example of such — at least when it comes to abject incompetence, disregard for the public, disregard for the environment, disregard for student safety, and disregard for its own history. A particularly-stunning example of poor management and planning continues to play out as the school district seeks to destroy what constitutes a small forest of mature trees in order to make the abatement of soil contamination easier and faster.

Add to the mix that it has been a colossal PR debacle, and those who haven’t been following along will get an idea of just how badly-handled it’s all been.

However, at the least, it’s been an inspiration to local youth to stand up and speak truth to power — and it demonstrates how the simple act of sitting in a tree can create waves of truth to wash away at least a bit of the bullshit that well-paid district admins have desperately tried to spin as being gold to locals.

And, at the last moment, the city of Pasadena stepped up and stepped in, apparently finally actually willing to enforce its regulations regarding protected trees.

Orchids to those trying to save the trees, and rotten onions to PUSD. Everyone who makes an effort to save these trees — including school kids — should be heralded as heroes (there goes my inner Lorax)!

It’s likely no surprise that the school district has messed up big time — once again. It’s hard to tell which of the PUSD debacles I’ve tracked has done the most damage to its reputation, but in a community where private schools flourish, this time PUSD has managed to enrage constituents of all sorts. Never underestimate the love locals have for trees!

And, it’s not just teachers reading Seuss who try to instill a love of trees in our youth. Just last October, iconic crusading biologist Jane Goodall spoke to students at Blair High School about the importance of trees in the web of life on the very day she died in Pasadena, and was scheduled to speak to Altadena students on the same topic the next day. Ms. Goodall had come to our region to inspire students to grow, protect, and to advocate for trees in our urban environment. My friend Claire and Amigos have worked tirelessly to create inviting outdoor areas full of trees and native plantings to try to bring a bit of environmental equity to our local public schools, engaging community and parent volunteers to help get the job done.

Why needlessly destroy habitat so desperately needed by birds, bugs, and critters of all sorts? Why needlessly kill trees that create fresh air for children to breathe, that provide shade for playgrounds, for outdoor classrooms, and that make our public schools just a little bit less like prisons?

I can hear the voice of a former PUSD landscape manager telling me that the best playground, in his opinion, was barren asphalt. I’m betting that long-retired employee would support PUSD cutting down all the trees, putting ’em in a tree museum, and charging folks a dollar and a half just to see them.

Except it’s not at all funny. A mature tree — as Eaton Fire survivors know — has a substantial economic value, to say nothing of its importance in the urban ecosystem, where healthy, mature trees are so scarce.

“Protect the children” is the rallying cry of admins — admins who first rushed to cut down trees outside the district’s headquarters, where children don’t tend to play. Oh, and let’s not forget that the sudden need to protect children comes almost 18 months after the Eaton Fire left toxins in its wake.

A school district that needlessly kills trees, as the PUSD has begun doing, is bad enough, and it likely comes as no surprise that the district has been actively misrepresenting the circumstances.

While the Eaton Fire was devastating to our local communities, that’s no excuse for poor planning — or for worse action.

Contrary to the misinformation peddled by PUSD, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) does not require landowners to remove trees — they simply require that contaminated soil be remediated. Any method can be used — including air spades and hydro spades. There’s no requirement to remove trees. In fact, DTSC allows contaminated areas to be cordoned off from children until a suitable solution is found — but PUSD seems hell-bent on killing all the trees it can.

In typical style, district officials took the most-repugnant path possible — failing to provide meaningful information ahead of time to the public and (when confronted by an outraged community) issuing a statement to remind the local populace that stepping onto PUSD property is a crime (trespassing).

Admins say that they’ll plant “replacement” trees after killing so many fully-mature trees — but even a kindergartener knows that a newly-planted sapling just isn’t the same as an 80-year-old spreading oak tree.

There’s a lot of history in the trees managed in the public trust by the PUSD. Many of those trees have seen generations of students pass by — and a few have even been part of local history for a century. I was there, decades ago, when California Governor Gray Davis planted a tree at one of the sites where trees are planned to be killed. Perhaps ironically, he named that tree “Higher Expectations” — how would he feel about it being killed by PUSD?

Many are unaware that funding for the planting of many wonderful taxpayer-owned trees came from grants and donations by sources that will be less likely to provide future funds after the planned killings. In addition to needlessly killing trees, PUSD seems hell-bent on destroying relationships with its donors.

PUSD needs to take a beat, even if it means paying out some funds to contractors gearing up for mayhem in order to stop the killing.

PUSD needs to do something it’s not known for: PUSD needs to be open, up front, and seek meaningful public input on the mildly-challenging issue of how best to remove contaminated soil safely while leaving the trees in place. There are ways to do this, including soil-remediation methods currently in use by concerned and impacted Eaton Fire survivors. There’s so much expertise available locally that it’s simply idiotic not to listen before needlessly killing so many precious trees!

With that off my chest, perhaps when I next look in the mirror, I can feel a bit more at ease when I see a Lorax looking back at me. At least I’ve tried to speak for the trees!

René Amy is an Eaton Fire survivor and community activist, known globally for his efforts to bring hope and beauty back to Altadena through The Great Altadena Poppy Project. Seasonally, he (and his beard) can be found assisting Santa deliver toys throughout the Pasadena area to needy children as part of Operation Santa.