Guelph op ed writer decries pre-emptive clear cuts in natural areas in anticipation of new tree protection laws; Guelph, Ontario, Canada

GuelphMercury.com - Opinions - We must act now to save our trees
SUSAN RATCLIFFE

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise?
If a developer cuts down acres of trees and no one does anything about it, should we make some noise?
Along Gordon Street beyond the sprawling subdivisions and ugly strip malls, some beautiful natural areas remain -- treasured by the families who have owned and loved them for many years, areas of rolling hills, towering trees, large ponds and abundant wildlife.
Sometime during the last week, Carson Reid Homes sent a diesel-powered machine called a feller-forwarder into one of those pristine areas. Looking like a huge praying mantis, it rumbled through the stands of large old maples and ironwoods other hardwoods including cherry, elm, ash and century-old fruit trees, clear cutting approximately 30 hectares of woods on Paris Galt Moraine land in the Hanlon Creek watershed."