By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle
“We are losing our local lungs . . . we must save the larger trees now for current and future generations,” said David Yanor addressing Osoyoos Town Council.
“The greatest value of big trees is in their carbon-absorbing, oxygen-spewing abilities. The fact that they provide lifesaving shade on hot days is a nice bonus,” he explained.
This was part of Yanor addressing council in a plea to save the mature trees in Osoyoos where he claimed to represent “the quiet majority, countless environmentally aware residents in Osoyoos,” at the Committee of the Whole Meeting on March 14, 2023.
His presentation showcased an analysis of the Urban Forestry Plan that was tabled on October 1, 2018. “The aim of the Urban Forestry Plan was to provide a snapshot of the state of trees along Main Street and in five of their parks. Even more significant, the plan was to issue recommendations based on best practices elsewhere.”
This was followed by a lambasting of the town’s “dismal environmental practices”, and “refusing to place the long-term interests of residents and visitors above the short-term interests of developers.”
A primary point of his concern was the Urban Forestry Plan’s prime recommendation to “create a tree protection bylaw to restrict the current wholesale destruction of mature trees.”
At the end of Yanor’s presentation Mayor Sue McKortoff expressed appreciation for the “well researched” presentation and noted that council would be taking this into consideration. McKortoff also said for the record that Yanor had talked with all the councilors individually and that this presentation was primarily for the public.
Yanor cited the UN’s claim that trees are the “most powerful weapons” we have in mitigating the effects of climate change and that council “must take the initiative to begin a new era of responsible stewardship of our privileged location”.
He continued to present eight recommendations to council to chart this path forward in protecting mature trees “for a healthier, more livable Osoyoos.”
Some of these were enacting a moratorium on “destroying trees of any species larger than 20 cm at chest height”, which he notes is “the Vancouver standard.” Another is create a tree protection bylaw that forbids cutting down large trees of any species, explaining that mature trees should not be “automatically destroyed because they are not native.”
Yanor also suggested hiring an environmental agent who will work independently from the Planning Department and be responsible for tree protection in the town.
