FAQ

Thank you for your interest. There are many things you can do right now to help.

• Sign the Statement of Concern at https://www.lexingtontreestatement.org/

• Share our site LexTrees.org with your friends, family, and others in your network.

• Contact your Town Meeting representatives and let them know you care.

  • • Find your Town Meeting representatives by precinct here.

    • Find your precinct number here and here.

    • What is Town Meeting, you ask? Read about our New England form of town government here.

• Put up a yard sign.

  • • All our signs are handmade and repurposed from old yard signs. Contact us at LexTrees.Org@gmail.com

• Lend a hand. We could use all sorts of help, distributing flyers, doing research. Contact us at LexTrees.Org@gmail.com

• Run for Town Meeting

YES.

The Statement was written by a coalition of residents who agreed that the issue of tree loss demanded a call to action. Only one member of that coalition is involved with LexTrees, which seeks to more thouroughly investigate the causes of tree loss and advocate for specific remedies. The material on this site does not reflect the opinions of the group that put together the Statement.

Are you serious?

Yes.

So ... it must have been a mistake. They thought it was their tree, right?

No. They hired a tree company to come over my fence with a crane and take out my tree. You can read about it here.

Unfortunately, there's not much you can do, short of taking them to court. But, that's not going to get your tree back. And, financially, that's probably not worth your time. However, a simple permit system could prevent situations like this, as well as the unauthorized removal of Town trees and conservation land trees which have been documented.

That's fine. Not everyone has to like trees. But, before you cut them all down, please consider how important they may be to your neighbors and your neighborhood. We are a community, not just a collection of individuals. I love loud music. I have a right to play loud music. I don't play loud music outside because I understand how that would impact my neighbors. If you really don't like trees, think about buying a house that isn't surrounded by trees. There's plenty.

I grew up in the suburbs of New York. We moved into a subdivision that was clear-cut and newly built in the early 1980s.

At its inception, the developers planted trees all along the streets and in yards. 20 years later things started to fill in nicely, and the block didn't look so drastically different from the rest of the neighborhood, which had old growth trees.

Then something changed. Everyone started chopping down their trees. Even the old-growth trees just outside our new subdivision started coming down.

This is what the neighborhood looks like now.

I've seen what happens when a community stops valuing its trees. I'm seeing it happen in Lexington now.

Daniel Miller is solely responsible for the content on this website.

He both lives and works in Lexington, where his children attend public school. He is not a member of Town Meeting, or of any town committee. He is not an employee of the town and does not have a financial stake in town business or real estate (besides the value of his home).

Please direct any questions or comments to LexTrees.org@gmail.com