> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The ficus fiasco continues - URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-ficus-fiasco-continues-20070929/ - Published: 2007-09-29T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T03:04:09.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Opinion, Downtown, #archive-import This past week, Q-line asked: Do you think the Treesavers should continue their crusade to save the trees or is the whole endeavor a waste of time? Here are your responses: “FOR THE SAKE OF EXPRESSING THE will of the majority of the people (remember that?), they \[the Treesavers\] should continue. It is probably a done deal with no chance of changing what I loosely call City Hall’s minds. Democracy is on the line, both locally and in Washington DC.” “OF COURSE I DON’T THINK THAT THE effort to save those beautiful trees on Second and Fourth streets in the Downtown district of Santa Monica is a waste of time. I remind people of the noted poet and artist William Blake’s famous quote about trees. He said, “The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in their way.” Save the trees.” “AND WHILE THE CITY IS AT IT, LET them remove all these horrible bottle brush trees. They are ugly and drop their red, oily leaves everywhere that stain the sidewalks and clog the sewer lines. The city should plant pretty bushes and flowers instead. Trees should never be planted near properties with sewer lines in front. It is just a big boon to plumbers. Plant them in parks.” “THIS IS AN ENDEAVOR OR A WAR that I can actually get behind and it is certainly not a waste of time.” “THE FICUS TREES ALONG SECOND AND Fourth streets lend a great deal to the aesthetics and photosynthesis of those streets mentioned and the entire city of Santa Monica. I doubt that the business owners along those automobile road ways understand the amount of deadly carbon monoxide and other carcinogens that belch out of those vehicles that use those roadways on a daily and annual basis. Sorry folks, automobile exhaust fumes are deadly. Ficus trees and every other form of plant life as well as the Pacific Ocean play a major role in filtering out the deadly gases from our atmosphere by producing oxygen. That is why we see all the lush gardens and shrubbery along our residential streets in Santa Monica. The lush shrubbery inhibits the flow of carbon monoxide onto those residential properties. I trust that the “clean air” people will speak up on this matter as I am attempting to do now.” “SAVING THE FICUS TREES IS THE crucial issue facing this city. The ficus trees need to be saved. We need our tree canopy. The City Council needs to reconsider this matter.” “YES, WE SHOULD SAVE THE TREES ON Second and Fourth streets. We need a tree canopy for environmental purposes. We should never cut down old, tall trees particularly with large tree canopies. Every city drastically needs them.” “IT TAKES YEARS TO GROW TREES LIKE that and they are an important part of our environmental protection. They should not be cut down unless they are diseased. Cutting them down is an absolute waste of money.” “I THINK IT IS A COMPLETE WASTE OF time to cut down those ficus trees. Now, if we could get some of those nerds who sit on the City Council off I’d be all for that. I think it is nonsensical. They are beautiful and they provide a lot of shade. Trees provide shade au natural.” “OUR CITY LEADERS CLAIM TO BE green, but they will cut down seemingly healthy trees because they have the money and desire to do so. Public preference for shady, leafy streets will not change things. The campaign to save the trees may not succeed, but it serves a valuable purpose nonetheless. They expose the hypocrisy of our elected officials.” “I DO NOT THINK IT IS A WASTE OF TIME at all to continue with the effort to stop the removal of ficus trees. In this day and age, the environment is so important. How could that even be a question? Of course we should continue this fight until they wise up at City Hall.” > “THE MATURE SPECIMENS THAT YOU speak of are actually less than one third of their projected life span. The activists (and I all think we should all support them) are reminding us that we Santa Monicans aspire to be ecological-minded city.” > “I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS EFFORT TO save the trees is a waste of time. It is Santa Monica’s waste of trees.” > “I WANT AN INVESTIGATION INTO WHO is responsible for this disgusting and diabolic tree massacre!” > “DO I THINK WE SHOULD CONTINUE TO fight to save the trees? Yes. Do I think, with the current City Council and the drive to develop it, is a “waste of time” > “PLEASE DO NOT CUT DOWN THE TREES.” — tually do what it wants despite what the majority of Santa Monicans think. It is worth keeping the issue open if only to show the stupidity of the City Council and the city manager in wanting to destroy healthy trees.” ? Probably, sadly, yes.” > “THE DEATH OF ONE 70-YEAR OLD TREE would return over three tons of carbon to the environment” > “I COMPLETELY SUPPORT ALL EFFORTS made by the tree savers group to combat the senseless destruction of the ficus and palm trees on Second and Fourth streets in SM. I think that the city is wasting money, time and other resources in considering removing these stunning trees. They provide shade and beauty to otherwise unattractive streets. I think that cutting down healthy trees with long life spans and replacing them with other trees is a ridiculous waste of time and money. I hate to see the destruction of any healthy tree, but the city’s intention in this case is absurd in the extreme.” > “I THINK THE LOCAL ACTIVISTS SHOULD continue their crusade to save the trees. I don’t want our beautiful trees to be cut down. They provide shade to the people who walk down those streets. I think it is a crime to cut down those trees.” > “I THINK THAT THE FICUS TREES SHOULD be saved. If you walk underneath them and look up at the canopy it is absolutely gorgeous. The Native Americans called them standing people and in Hawaii, I’ve been told that that family of trees is considered sacred.” “THESE TREES TOOK A VERY LONG TIME to grow. Probably 40 years. I hope to see them still growing in 40 years time. It is like cutting down a bunch of teenagers because they are unruly. Don’t tase the trees, bro.” “IT IS CRUCIAL TO SAVE THE TREES. THEY are a part of the quality of life in Santa Monica that we all value.” “I WAS TOLD THAT THEY WERE DISEASED or that they are an anti-business interests. Off hand, I would say it is one of the stupid-est moves I’ve ever heard a City Council do. Cut beautiful trees down in the heart of the city. Whoever made this decision should have their head examined.” “THEY ARE PROBABLY WASTING THEIR time trying to get the City Council to change their minds. Because once politicians make up their minds, they don’t care what the people say. They never listen to the public anyway, so what’s the point.” “YES, WE SHOULD CONTINUE THE crusade to save the trees.” “NOTH I NG IS A WASTE OF TI MEIF it might do some good. Helping our environment is my idea of doing a lot of good. After listening to a lot of knowledgeable people regarding this matter it is obvious to me that these trees must be saved.” “THE CITY COUNCIL HAS A LOT OF reasons, but it basically comes down to money. They are spreading lies about the trees being diseased. What those trees need is water. None of them are diseased.” “IT IS CRUCIAL TO SAVE THOSE TREES. It would be criminal not to. Take a walk down the street and see how cool and loving it is because of the trees. Think about how hot and bright it would be without them.” “THE TREES ARE MATURE AND THERE IS no reason to cut them down.” “IT IS NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER A wrong thing to save a tree. We should not only save what we have, but plant twice as many. Call City Hall and tell them to do the same.” “I SUPPORT THE GROUP TRYING TO SAVE the trees, though I think the city will even- *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 29, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/092907.pdf?ref=smdp.com)