Wychwood holdouts slam pro-tree campaign

For decades “the urban forest” has been Wychwood’s pride. This neighbourhood is lined with trees, including some of the largest old red and white pine in the city. But when the residents association, Friends of Wychwood, launched a three-week awareness campaign this fall to emphasize the importance of preserving trees in this singular neighbourhood, one resident had had enough. The lawn signs and panels have irked resident Gerry Duffield.

“I was going to join the Friends, but I will not, as long as they’re beating foolish drums like that,” said Mr Duffield, a retired environmental engineer and long-time Wychwood resident.

“All the time I’ve lived here, I have not seen a massive reduction in trees, except the ones that die. A little technical item nobody knows about is that, in the 1970s, the city installed water and sewer lines in Wychwood. The original cottages in the area had their own wells and septic fields. In doing this, workers had to cut trenches through the rock, down about 10 feet. That pulled the water table down, because the water drains into those trenches. This means that trees which used to have their feet in water ended up drying out, and many died,” explained Mr. Duffield, who built his house in Wychwood in the late 1980s.

Many ash trees have died in recent years across Aylmer, largely because of the Emerald Ash Borer, but, according to Mr Duffield, residents also wasted an opportunity when the beetle first arrived.

“When the Emerald Ash Borer was found in Wychwood, nobody bothered to cut all those trees down while they were healthy, (even though) they were going to die. Had they been taken down healthy, they would have made great lumber,” he argued. Ash wood is valued for flooring, implement handles, table tops, and some furniture.

Scientists at that time, such as Robert Lavallée, a researcher with Natural Resources Canada, did ask the population to be patient when the Emerald Ash Borer started infesting trees.

Scientists hoped to control the rising population of the beetle by using biological pest control. This year, Asian wasps, which eat the Ash Borer’s larvae, were introduced to fight the scourge. Duffield does not believe this is the solution. “Just look at examples of the law of unintended consequences,” he noted, referring to disasterous experiments elsewhere.

The retired environmental engineer also weighed in on two stories in Aylmer, the house on Arbutus Street, and the story about the Aylmer couple receiving a fine of roughly $1,000 for having allegedly cut down a dead ash tree without a permit.

“I built my house in Wychwood and I had to cut trees on the property -- no one objected. When I was done building, I planted trees. I planted one near my driveway and now the trunk is about seven inches in diameter. I planted it but now, if I want to cut it down, I must go to the city, give them $40, and ask for permission -- it’s my damn tree and it’s on my property! These tree permits are a royal pain in the neck! It is another one of these idiotic laws set with the best of intentions,” said Duffield. 

Denise Laferrière, city councillor for Hull-Wright and chair of Gatineau’s Committee on the Environment, told the Bulletin that the committee will be reviewing the tree policy.

“All our bylaws must be reviewed in accordance to our new land use management plan. The same applies to policies, including our tree policy,” she said.

As for the offending construction on Arbutus Street, Mr Duffield was not troubled when he visited the lot himself.

“I counted 12 large trees still standing and each one is close to a foot in diameter. The homeowners hardly modified the landscape,” insists Duffield. “When people build a house, they generally need to take down some trees. When a tree is sick, you need to take it down. I think it’s incumbent on the owner to show a little responsibility when building, but I don’t think it’s incumbent on the city to become the big brother overlooking everything.”

Asked if he had a solution on the tree debate, Mr Duffield said, “I don’t, really, but over-reaction has never been a good solution.”  Conservationists, however, disagree, pointing to the wholesale loss of green spaces around Aylmer as examples of uncontrolled “private ownership” of common resources.