To the Editor,
The issue of removing Hanover's rope-swing tree is so straightforward that there is little room for ambivalence about it; but I walked down to this sizable tree overhanging the Connecticut River again today, and while I am aware of the neighborhood's concerns, I cannot imagine how one could want to chop this tree down. From nearby we see that with its quaint wooden steps and a trunk so big that one couldn't wrap their arms around its base, this is the type of beautiful tree one would expect to see in a Disney movie or a children's storybook. Watching people play on it only reinforces these images. I see smiling, giggling faces as people swing out, plop into the water and refreshingly splash about on hot summer days. It may not be the conventional afternoon break, but its certainly fun and by its nature relatively benign.
The obvious issue here lies in the activity this attracts to an otherwise quiet residential neighborhood. While I do not intend to marginalize this concern, I am amazed and saddened that we could sacrifice something so special for a simple lack of communication and mutual respect.
I honestly don't think many recreational users of this area realize the traffic or noise they bring with them and the extent to which this affects local homeowners. Perhaps people drive to the ropeswing, parking where there is not sufficient parking space and causing traffic where children play. Perhaps it is the issue of noise during the evenings when the nearby homeowners want to sleep. Users believe they are entering a public park, and if there is some way that their use is affecting the neighbors, they are generally unaware of this. Obviously this is not a matter for which some of the community should wage a war on other members of the community or destroy our beautiful natural park, it is simply cause for us to work out how we use this park.
The crux of the matter is twofold; I beg that this tree be left standing, and we feel that this should be enough. I looked at this tree this afternoon, and honestly couldn't decide whether I could condemn someone for someone for spiking it and calling it in as being uncuttable because it had been spiked. But this is not a civilized or reasonable response. A reasonable response, the only reasonable response, is to create and follow simple usage guidelines. Otherwise, the removal of this tree will be a tremendous loss to the entire community.
Quite a few students and other community members feel very strongly about this issue, and there will be a petition circulating on the Dartmouth campus and around Hanover over the next week. I sincerely hope that the town planners will reconsider their plans to remove something so beautiful, so beneficial and so irreplacable.
