Finding Ulysses

Trees are on my mind today.

There’s an important article in the B Section of today’s Ithaca Journal, with the headline: Huge redbud halts T-burg project. The redbud in question is on Route 96, on the righthand side headed south out of town, across the pond from the public school campus.

Anyone’s who’s been in Trumansburg for long (and many of us who haven’t – I noticed it within the first couple weeks of moving here) knows the tree. It’s large for its species, the largest in all of Tompkins County. Yet the largeness of the tree isn’t really what makes it so special. The shape of the trunk and major branches is smooth and artful, speaking of both age and weight. The ornamental quality of the tree is more like that of a japanese maple than an ordinary redbud.

This tree is a landmark, and a mark of Trumansburg’s unique culture as well. We care for our trees here. I don’t just mean that we take care of our trees. We actually care for them.

I’m a tree hugger. I don’t mind admitting that. But, I’m not a fool. I know that, in a village, there is a time for trees to come down. A maple tree outside my front door has reached that stage in its life where it it is not just unshapely, but downright dangerous. Anyone who comes up and down Cayuga Street very often has seen at least some of the aftermath of the tree losing a large limb this week, a limb nearly one foot in diameter. Anyone underneath that branch would have been killed, and it now appears that the rotting trunk itself is in danger of breaking, and falling on my neighbors’ house across the street, as well as the power lines there, and the street itself, of course.

So, on Friday, I called several tree trimming businesses to see if they could take the tree down. Each one said that the tree is too tall for them to deal with. On Monday, I’ll call NYSEG, and see if they can help out.

It doesn’t make me happy to do this. The tree is turning into a snag, and becoming home to a large number of animals, including a family of raccoons. But, the lives of people have to come before the lives of raccoons.

My point is that I’m not about to go out and chain myself to just any tree that’s threatened with being cut down. But, the redbud on Main Street is not just any tree.

The purpose of the Main Street Project is to enhance the character of Trumansburg’s Main Street. That redbud tree is a significant element in that character, and it just doesn’t make sense to do away with it. Yet, the plan of the Village at this point is to cut back several of the trees main limbs, a surgery that would fundamentally destroy the tree’s character and possibly threaten its life.

Deborah Nottke, who owns the property where this grand redbud grows, has obtained a court order to stop the work around the redbud tree until the issue can be resolved. I’m glad she’s done so. Nottke has been working with David Allen, a nurseryman, to come up with alternatives so that the Main Street Project can continue and the tree can be left intact. Apparently, the Village government has not yet accepted any of those alternatives.

Mayor John Levine has expressed an indifference to the tree’s survival, quoted in the paper this morning as saying, “There is no question that it is a nice tree, but on the other hand it is a very old tree and it is not going to live forever.” Mr. Levine, that redbud is not just a nice tree. It is a living monument. The tree is priceless precisely because it represents a generations-long investment in the beauty of main street. You can’t buy a tree like that. You have to plant it and wait, and hope that others will be able to enjoy it even after you’re gone. No sidewalk, no matter how nicely made, is going to make up for its loss. There are plenty of old things here in Trumansburg, and they’re what make Trumansburg special. It does not do to go tearing them apart without serious consideration.

So, this Thursday, at 7:30 PM in the offices of the Town of Ulysses, serious consideration will be given. There will be a hearing on the future of that gigantic old redbud, to explore the alternatives for the Main Street Project to work around the tree in such a way that preserves its integrity.

I spoke to Deborah Nottke this morning, and she says that anyone who values the tree can come to the hearing. It would also be helpful to call or write the members of our Village Board to express, politely, the value of keeping the tree intact.