What do numbered trees mean? They mean that someone, somewhere is planning to do something with the land you're standing on. The trees, which until such time were free residents of their own universe, become numbered and tagged citizens of an organized master plan. I think this is the new trend in suburban development. The blight inflicted upon the landscape by rows and rows of ranch houses is an icon for poor planning, not to mention how downright awful it is to live in this type of housing. Driveways abutting driveways abutting little artificial rows of dwarf pines and cars everywhere. So, the current trend in our area is to build massive houses on small plots of land that allegedly blend into the landscape they have essentially consumed. Hence, the trees are numbered because some of those numbered trees may be left standing while the landscape around them is stripped and remodeled to fits its new residents, the suburban dwellers with their own botanical preferences, cosmetically improved flora, and inspired landscape designs.
Taxes are extraordinarily high here, land is expensive, and egos are big. You just can't keep yourself hygienically up to snuff unless your have five showers to chose from, all spouting water at your body from the bottom, top and sides. Jeez. A large home has been for sale in our community for so long, I decided to try and find out why one of those taxpayer-funded Wall Street bonuses hadn't been used to claim it. Real estate agents are always eager to show off their wares online and it wasn't difficult to learn that this brand new home had been built with 8 (!!!) bathrooms to go along with its 5 bedrooms. I suppose each person can choose the toilet of their choice based on their coordinates, mood and whether or not they were feeling the need for up, down, light, heavy duty or moderate rinsing. All of those choices will cost you though; the house was over $2M and the taxes are $60,ooo. Yup. That's right. Sixty grand.
So, more numbered trees means more bathrooms and less trees, less trails, less canopy, less noise reduction, and in my eyes, less aesthetics. But, of course, despite my ranting to no one in particular and despite the town meetings where passionate individuals will stand up and remind everyone how important it is to keep our community clean and green, the ultimate decision, once you've stripped away all the frosting, will induce it to be grungy and gray. More pavement, more automated landscapes, more cars and people and all of their accouterments. And since even the most developmentally minded civic leaders will say they do not want to encourage total deforestation of our old, beautiful communities, the developer will show in his plan how the trees are to be preserved...the important ones, that is - for you see, they know which trees are important. And these important trees, well they are given numbers and then they are plotted on a map, which the developer will bring to the meeting, where the civic leaders will see all the trees to be preserved while cement pits are built all around them. Cement pits that will hold another eight bathrooms and a media room to boot. Numbered trees, drafted into a green army, have no idea what lies ahead for them but it is certain it won't be anything like they life they've led so far.
And the planners, of course, think this is progress. More expensive homes means more people with more money to spend, more tax income for the community, more students, more funding, more services are needed, more jobs, more! More! More! But the downsides are not often recognized, let alone discussed and evaluated. In the timeline of consideration, our window is very narrow. We see only the new tax revenue and peripheral benefits. And if I think about this in terms of these numbered trees, I see a certain limited range of possibility. Because the numbered tree is preserved only as a means to secure permission to destroy everything that sustains it. The numbered tree is not a stand-alone commodity that fits as nicely into the 50 x 100 ft yard with swimming pool as it does in this yet wild space. In time, the numbered tree becomes a burden, growing where its new owners don't want it to, dropping leaves on an otherwise pristine green lawn, drinking up the lawn pesticides and fertilizers, attracting pests and in general, standing in the path of nature the way we want it to be - manipulated and controlled to our liking, a mere attribute of our homesteads.
