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# It’s not too late to save the trees
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/its-not-too-late-to-save-the-trees/
- Published: 2007-07-24T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T02:21:25.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Downtown, #archive-import

*By Dr. Andrew Nestler*

(Editor’s note: The following is an open letter to the Santa Monica City Council) City Council members: I implore you to reverse the council’s decision of Oct. 11, 2005, to remove and replace every other tree on Second and Fourth streets downtown (http://www.smgov.net/cityclerk/council/agendas/).

Surely, you have read the large number of eloquent letters published in the Santa Monica Daily Press since May 2007 that have extolled the virtues of these gorgeous trees. I cannot add to the reasons why the trees must be preserved, nor should I have to. I live and work in Santa Monica, and each weekend, I walk downtown on Fourth Street — my favorite street in the city. If the trees are removed or replaced with smaller trees, walking on these streets will be no pleasure at all, and it will be a constant reminder of destructive, anti-environmental, short-sighted decision-making. You will witness the opposite effect, when visitors avoid those streets and the businesses located there.

If you still are in favor of the removal of the trees, against the wishes of all those Santa Monica residents who have written open letters to the council before me, please reply with your reasoning. If you believe that the city does not have the money to pay for the maintenance of the trees that exist today, will you please raise my taxes in order to obtain whatever funding you need.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 24, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/072407.pdf?ref=smdp.com)