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To the Editor:
Since early January, Eversource and the Connecticut Department of Transportation have been clearcutting an unknown number of trees throughout Darien. Visit Littlebrook Road to the entrance of Selleck’s Woods and the Dunlap Nature Preserve; Raymond Street near the train overpass; Noroton Train Station; the Darien Train Station; or even Woodway Country Club and see how barren those areas are now that Eversource and CTDOT have visited. Unfortunately, these areas are only the beginning of what Eversource plans for Darien. Their vegetation management plan for 2023 includes Brookside Road past Cherry Lawn Park and nearby streets.
Our First Selectman, so far, has blamed the legislature and written to constituents saying the land where the utility is destroying our tree canopy doesn’t belong to the town, so we have no power to do anything. I don’t remember Darien ever being so reticent about other issues when the state tried to dictate policy.
I would recommend a call to ask the Governor’s Office and his Council on Climate Change (GC3) to stop this senseless cutting that has nothing to do with the safety and reliability of the electric grid. If it did, wouldn’t we be talking about undergrounding, not taking down healthy and mature trees? The GC3’s mission is to make recommendations to reduce greenhouse gases. With every tree felled, most of a trees stored carbon is released, increasing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and contributing to global warming. This is exactly what the GC3 is supposed to be preventing.
If you haven’t been over to Littlebrook Road off Raymond, drive over. If you care about our town and the environment, it is a gut punch.
Natalie Tallis
Darien, CT