It was indeed a sad day at 3138 Waialae Avenue as a whole lot of owner's wishes were quashed by the AOAO Board and the first lot of trees were cut down. There were many activities leading up to this fateful day by the owners trying to persuade the AOAO board.
Vigil under the Monkeypod tree that is destined to be cut
Unable to stand the body language of the owners the AOAO Board resorted to hide behind a ZOOM meeting and the board took a vote to cut down the trees. Basically, a block of 6 voted to cutdown.
ZOOM meetings have become a way of life to carry out unsavoury acts in many human activities recently. This was yet another instance.
For me personally, it was the loss of Oxygen and the tree removal company produced gasoline fumes for the whole of today's morning. I am totally opposed to cutting trees. They don't align with world view or the US's ambition to capture carbon. What cheap and better way is there than trees!
I went out to see the cutting of the trees along the walk and they had already started at the point nearest to the bridge on the Palolo stream. I am not sure at that point whether they were cutting or trimming the branches and I heard falling sound of branches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lI9tDdQvCo
Here are some pictures:
I spoke to one worker from the tree removal company and asked him if he likes to bring down trees, he said he was not happy.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dPqlKR1md3Y
Who is the most happiest today? Of course, the AOAO Board of Regency Park at 3138 Waialae on this day, 10/7/2024.
The tree right behind my unit was very tall and the worker had to work from top downwards. At the lower levels he had to make more cuts as the tree got a lot thicker. I felt as if I have been cut, piece by piece. They produced a lot of noise and gasoline fumes. Dismembered pieces littered the walkway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpuRg5paLT4
It was pitiful to watch the Fairy Terns fly agitated helter skelter but they kept coming back. Perhaps they had a nest. These birds are protected by the State of Hawaii.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PF8w-HXn7i4
https://www.fairytern.org.nz/
https://littleternproject.org.uk/about-little-terns/
But what comes next is too important. We need to stop it. AOAO has on its list many more trees to be chopped off. The next batch occupies a space where the trees are shielding residents from noise and pollution, providing shade without which the heat can be unbearable, and home to the Fairy Terns.
Look closely the blue tape around the trunk of a tree closeby. This area near the Chaminade University is the nesting ground of these birds.
The sad thing is that board has not provided details to the satisfaction of the residents.
10/7/2024
To be continued...
Here is a TV clip of TV Coverage of Sign waving at Waialae Avenue and 3rd Avenue in Honolulu.
Mrs. Clevinger asked me to add the following to my blog or as a separate post. I decided to add it to the post to have a complete story.
Letter written by Deborah Clevinger to the Board of Directors
"Some of the Condominiums' Board of Directors (BoD) members feel the tree removal project is over and done with. Many, many owners, residents, and I'm sure a minority of BoD members disagree and are sickened by the continued destruction of our beautiful place we call home.
It was stated that this is a "passionate topic". This is evident by the outpouring of residents' concerns, countless emails, letters, phone calls, texts that you have received from these concerned residents trying to get your attention to reconsider this very hurtful and I think, rash decision. I understand that BoD have many concerns that they are dealing with and I'm sure just wanted to move this "tree business" along. But this "business" is not like any of the other businesses as we all have been a witness to. That passion has not dissolved but only heightened with this continuing to cut down our healthy trees that make up our serene, quiet, cool, shady home. The mere topic of removing our trees has caused much stress, anguish, anxiousness, sleeplessness, restlessness, and those cortisol levels to rise which leads to an unhealthy life for all of us. Stress is not healthy as we hear from the news and our doctors.
BoD members, you live here also, you are our neighbors, some for a long time, some for not so long. We all share this home and not just we humans, but countless other living creatures that beautify and amplify the serenity of our environment that we share. I enjoy hearing the morning and evening bird songs. Silent Spring is an excellent book that describes what life is like without our feathered friends. What human careless actions can do to our environment and other living creatures. The Lorax says, "I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues." The trees can not run from the chainsaw, can not fly away, but must stand as they are being cut down one small section at a time... what are we doing to our beautiful home???
We should be good stewards and teach our children that we care for nature and our environment and that we maintain it through pruning, sometimes feeding, fertilizing, using one of many other mitigation strategies to preserve our valuable friends.
I learned that Native Americans call trees "the Standing People". The Native Americans are true conservationists - only using and taking a life, animal or plant, that was needed for them to survive. We can learn a great lesson from them - the great respect they had for their environment. They plan for 7 generations out. These huge canopy trees that you scheduled to cut down will not be replaced in our children's lifetime. It takes decades for trees to gain the size of some of the trees that you have scheduled to cut down and already have cut down.
Please, please, find it in your heart to reconsider this very unhealthy decision that was made and amend it while there are still a few of the healthy canopy trees that are left of the 7 that were to be removed.
Another beautiful healthy tree was cut down on Monday October 7, 2024. No more can it provide us the solace, shade, serenity that it did for so many years. The trees along the riverwalk will dramatically change the environment along, beside and in the stream. As the large eucalyptus tree was being cut down a fairy tern hovered above looking for its home...how heartbreaking. You can almost hear it asking..Where's my home? It was just here. Where am I to go now? Don't I matter to any of those humans who are taking away my home?
We are in the final hours of some of the "condemned" remaining trees. Please, look deep inside you as a human being, a fellow creature sharing this place we call home and make a decision to stop this useless slaughter of our beautiful trees.We are to be stewards of all of God's creatures. We alone are responsible for our own actions, not the actions of the group. It is said, "What is popular is not always what is right, and what is right is not always popular."
Thank you for reading to the end and please stop this slaughter of our precious trees.
Respectfully submitted,
Debb Clevenger
