Requiem for the Trees

 

Parking lot construction, 1988

Halibut Point State Park

Gail Halloran photo

Several years after the Commonwealth of Massachusetts acquired the Webster property on Halibut Point the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) constructed an 80-vehicle parking lot for visitors to the new State Park and to the adjacent acreage owned by The Trustees of Reservations. The goal was to balance natural and historical preservation with modest human recreation.

Elm and arborvitaes (Tree of Life)
at the Park entrance, 2014

Shade and evergreens plantings softened the paved area over time. They blended with naturalized trees to form a wooded veil within and around the parking lot.

A cardinal foraging in the cedar screen

New Parking Circulation Plan, 2019
Department of Conservation and Recreation website

DEM evolved into DCR, the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Its management planners came to recognize Halibut Point as an underutilized recreational asset, in the manner of identifying the protein of certain 'underutilized species' of fish for increased  human consumption. They foresaw that the parking area could fit more cars more efficiently, that more people could be better served. The narrowing list of species adaptable to this pressure are backyard specialists and objects of utility.

The demise of the elm, cedars, and arborvitaes

The plan for improvements has just resulted in the demolition of 32 trees around the parking area. Some of these needed renovation, but upscale advocates of Recreation outmuscled Conservation. Neighbors and patrons of the Park tensed during the preview at the Library. Few foresaw the environmental impact as the red dot of the laser pointer traversed pretty drawings and engineering refinements.

The former ash trees in the parking medians, 2014

Magnolia Warbler in an ash tree

Where ash trees had flanked the flag pole

What is there to cherish about trees? They express grace, strength, and resilience at the pinnacle of the botanical world, the grand success story in converting earth's elements to organic life. Trees play a crucial role in sustaining our environment, our economy, our connection to nature, and our sense of wellbeing. They undergird both civilization and planetary health. 

Trees have previously been clear-cut from this location during agricultural settlement and industrial quarrying. Always the tendency to reforestation has brought new growth. Setting aside this parkland was intended to promote public enjoyment and to model stewardship with nature. The current heavy-handed treatment of the landscape fails this standard badly.

The End Game: A Destination

Social media and trip advisors have begun to direct unprecedented attention to Halibut Point. Astonishing numbers of Covid-19 refugees have driven to the gates of the Park. In the public health emergency I feel sympathy and generosity. In the long run I am concerned that the kind of Welcome Threshold projected by the DCR design team will utterly alter the tranquility of Halibut Point. It will become a showcase rather than a preserve, as happened at Walden Pond. That may offer some relief to cooped-up citizens of the metropolis eager for fresh air and an ocean view, but the traffic, the clamor, the wear-and-tear will repel wildlife and all those used to quiet enjoyment.

The flag pole and ashes

The entrance to Halibut Point is being transformed with the template of a shopping mall. It will take generations for new landscape plantings to attain the stature of what has been lost. So far the flagpole retains its governing place. The monumental entry signage should be reconsidered. Your concerns can be relayed to Senator Bruce Tarr who has a longstanding affection for this place.