Letter from Chip Northrup

Cutting of Trees Was
‘Ugly Thing to Do’

A stately row of shade trees was cut down on the Leatherstocking Golf Course at the entrance to the Cooperstown Country Club. The trunks look sound, but the reason given was that the trees were “sick” and that one of the trees had shed a limb recently. All of the trees were removed based on the assumption that they were all dying and presented a hazard. Maybe so. Or maybe not. Some tree species, including these trees, shed limbs as a natural survival mechanism. By shedding limbs, they are trying to live. If that was the case, then cutting them down was an ugly thing to do. If they were stressed, they should have been pruned, not removed.

Chip Northrup
Cooperstown