The Henlopen Acres commissioners and their residents should be commended for recognizing the beauty and value of preserving trees for the benefit of the entire community. Trees not only add to real estate values of homeowners and their communities, but are also an extremely important part of the ecosystem to provide shelter and food for our birds and various wildlife.
Unfortunately, our private beach community, located south of Dewey Beach, has taken the opposite approach. The HOA board is in the process of presenting a proposal to cut a large number of old-growth pine trees, some more than 25 years old (more than 30 have been identified on their survey), so that a limited number of homeowners may benefit from a better ocean view. It is incomprehensible to me and my spouse that any community would eliminate majestic trees that provide so many benefits to the environment and wildlife for the sole purpose of a possible better ocean view for only a select number of residents.
The adage, “If you are lucky enough to live by the ocean, you are lucky enough,” should be enough for residents of all beach communities to develop similar, well-planned tree policies as Henlopen Acres has done, rather than taking the opposite approach, as our community has, and head in the direction of unnecessarily eliminating trees.
Let us stop declaring war on nature for one’s personal benefit in these “lucky” communities.
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