Roots and branches

Thank you for printing the news about “Tree 31” in Mount Hope Cemetery (BDN, June 24).

For nearly 15 years it has been one of my deepest pleasures to walk through Mount Hope. Anyone who has done so must be aware of the awesome majesty of the trees, the delightful variety of wild plants and animals that thrive there. I am grateful to all those who have tended Mount Hope so well.

Years ago, many of the roads that are now paved were dirt and gravel. I have wondered how all the asphalt might change the drainage. I note that all of the ponds are shrinking rather quickly. I wonder how this might affect the wildlife — frogs, turtles, migrating birds.

Perhaps Tree 31 is beyond saving, perhaps not. What is certain is that the entire cemetery would benefit from a forward-thinking plan based on the best information available. The staff and workers at Mount Hope have done a heroic job to keep the cemetery in such good shape, but perhaps it is time for a Friends of Mount Hope to step forward and offer some help. Maybe the Bangor Garden Club and other local citizens could get such a group going.

A long-range plan, and a group of involved citizens to help implement it, could ensure that the cemetery remains not only the sacred resting place it has been for many generations, but also the environmental jewel it has become, all the more precious in this area that is rapidly falling beneath the ax of urban sprawl. Jane Livingston Veazie