Right before Earth Day last week, someone - no one yet knows who conclusively - took a chainsaw to 200 yards of trees on the Mississippi River bluff in Memphis, TN. This is in an area so sensitive, the US Corps of Engineers is the permitting agency for anything done there. The bluffs are held in place partially by the roots systems of the trees and other vegetation. These bluffs are what separate Memphis from the Mississippi River.
Furiously searching news sites for other incidents of such crimes, I found many. It is apparently common for the wealthy to fell trees and clear land with no regard for anyone else, future generations, or the environmental impact of their actions. It should not surprise me, this arrogance and self-centeredness, but it always does. Especially when these people could pay to do it right, with some care and respect. When the wife of the famous entertainer Steve Harvey had 2 magnolia trees illegally removed from their Bluff home in March, she at least paid professionals to do it properly.
I find the hubris of the rich shocking. Mudslides will take their ten million dollar homes as quickly as they will take a shack. Their grandchildren won’t have special air to breathe. I have no illusions that I will be able to imbue the wealthy and privileged with a sense of common cause or obligation. Frankly, I’ve spent decades trying to do that in a variety of systems and I’m done with it for now. Those who think they know best simply believe this so deeply that little evidence to the contrary is effective.
But they got what they wanted, as the wealthy usually do - the trees are gone. For now, we’re left with the aftermath of their destruction, the need to replant, and the sense that all of us are doomed if we can’t somehow get these people to see that we are all dependent on each other.
You can read the article in the Daily Memphian here: https://dailymemphian.com/article/21490/200-yards-of-trees-below-martyrs-park-cut-without-permission?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A%20Trending%20Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR3XI_Hzfgy9Bt-G2MR3ovmJeg9BUoU5sFUhTK4LYFu_c5nW4L_7T8y7Lmk