Trees are valuable Natchez resource

Doug Mauro

Published Saturday, April 26, 2008

Several residents and visitors have commented recently about the trees being trimmed by Entergy Co. in Natchez. One of our best resources aside from the Mississippi River is the old growth trees throughout our city. In the past few weeks Entergy has been, in many cases, cutting these trees practically in half.

Ancient live oaks, magnolias, cedars, crepe myrtles or any hapless tree in the path of the Entergy lines have been brutally cut and turned into eyesores.

Entergy has also created a hazardous situation due to these trees being heavily trimmed on one side. Readers may see an example of this situation by heading west on Orleans Street and looking right between Union and Commerce Streets, where a very old live oak has been literally cut in half. Other examples are on South Union Street where several crepe myrtles have been decapitated. Aside from looking ugly the trees that have been cut are now susceptible to disease and insects. In fact, this is the worst possible time of the year to severely prune trees.

Our fears were put at rest a few weeks ago when an article appeared in The Democrat quoting Entergy as saying they had hired trained arborists to engage in this tree trimming. When a resident arrived home from work recently, to her horror, trees on her property had been severely cut. On approaching the “arborist” to question him, she discovered he spoke no English.

What responsible utility company would commit such an act? Trees are one of the beauties of Natchez and should not be sacrificed for power lines. Entergy should be a good neighbor and bury these lines once and for all.

The canopies of our live oaks, crepe myrtles, and magnolias are sacred, they are nature’s cathedrals. Aside from our beautiful historic buildings, these trees are what make Natchez a special place. People always say how beautiful Natchez is. How would our historic landmarks appear without these magnificent trees that cradle them?

Doug Mauro

Natchez resident