Concerned citizen holding a sign in front of Tlaquepaque on SR179.

Out on a limb in Tlaquepaque

By Tommy Acosta | Sedona Verde Valley Times

Sedona, AZ -- Seeing so many concerned Sedona citizens lining the streets in front of Tlaquepaque, holding signs and demonstrating their love for a number of endangered trees now facing an ADOT ax, brought me back to my days as a news editor covering Chandler and Sun Lakes in the East Valley.

It was a beautiful spring day five years ago when I received a call at my office from an extremely-upset Sun Laker claiming that two large, what I remember being Sycamore trees, lining their lake, were cut down in the wee hours of the morning; she and her friends were rushing to form human chains around the remaining trees on a golf course behind their homes.

I rushed out of the office like Clark Kent disguised as Superman, jumped into my car and broke speed limits driving to Sun Lakes.

Sure enough, there they were, a determined group of angry ladies facing off a crew of Home Owner Association-hired contractors brandishing heavy equipment, who were preparing to saw down a fifty-foot tree, home to the many Blue Herons who lived by the lake.

I made sure they could see my press pass glinting in the morning sun and I whipped out my camera and stepped between the groups before the women could attack.

Notepad in hand, I asked who is in charge and one very serious woman said she was.

The story was, HOA management had decided to take the trees down because they were “messy” and it was costing management extra cash to clean up after the trees, which regularly dropped leavers and branches on the golf course during monsoon season.

I snapped pictures of the women surrounding the trees, some of the relieved contractors who called their employer, and the HOA honchos themselves when they came to investigate.

Demonstrators line Tlaquepaque holding signs asking ADOT to please save the trees.

I ran a front-page story on the incident and some sort of stalemate was reached, with the women camping out in front of the trees and management insisting it had every right to take the tree down but waiting for the proper moment to strike.

Sure enough, about two weeks into the fray, the women let their guard down and management came in while they were sleeping and took down the third and biggest tree.

I got the call later that day and went to Sun Lakes. I found the women gathered in a circle around the stump. Some were weeping. They had drums and flutes and performed a ceremony for the fallen tree.

One woman said she had a vision the tree had spoken to her. She said the tree was fine being chopped down. It had lived a long life and now its spirit was free -- which brings me back to our trees.

I spoke to a Sedona psychic named Carol Sydney. She would not voice an opinion on whether it is right or wrong to chop those trees down.

“Has anyone asked the trees how they feel about it,” she said. “Talk to them. They are mature trees. See what they want.”

Photo Caption: Satellite photos compare U.S. light pollution NOW compared to 1992! Why Sedona Residents are enlightening leaders about alternatives to erecting 76 light-polluting poles. Photo courtesy of NASA.

Perhaps the answer to the quandary lies there. How do the trees feel about their impending demise?

Can they feel the love of those who wish to save them? Do they believe their sacrifice might improve conditions for the people of Sedona? Do they fiercely want to go on living as part of Sedona’s beauty? Or are they serenely observing the drama unfold below them, resigned to whatever fate the future may hold?

As a community, we might try to find a way of communicating with the trees, digging deep into our own souls to find an answer to this dilemma before things spin out of control. After all, I’m sure there are dozens of psychics living in our community quite capable of intuiting what the trees feel.

And if it be the trees want to live, then Sedona needs to unite stronger than ever over the issue and work with ADOT to find an amenable solution.

Still, it is heart warming to see so many giving their time and energy to a cause they believe in, a cause that holds life over death, above all things.

Let’s just hope it doesn’t get to a point where people have to tie themselves to the trees to save them from the buzzing saws.