SAW 3 -- Revenge of the Nerds

I am not a tree hugger by nature, but I do love trees. I grew up in Colorado and there are millions and millions of pine trees there.

So when I made my first trip to Ft. Zachary Taylor State Park at the southwestern end of Key West I was surprised to see Australian Pines. Lots of them. They were clustered near the beach. There were old fashioned wood burning fire pits and picnic tables that reminded me public campgrounds in the Colorado Rockies. But 30 feet fro the pines there was the Atlantic Ocean. The juxtaposition was mind boggling.

I just took the existence of the pines as a forever thing. Not so. The Key West Citizen reported today (March 10th)"Crews began toppling 88 Australian pines at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park early Friday, to the dismay of tree advocates. The state expects to complete this stage of the tree-removal project by the end of the weekend. Some of the felled trees will be chipped, others will be burned..."

The State of Florida oversees so much of what we do in the Keys. This is ridiculous. We are in an area of critical concern, so they say. So the state has to look out for our best interest. Some bureaucrat (NERD) made a decision that since Australian Pines are not indigenous to the Keys that they should be eliminated. News Flash: most of the vegetation on the Island of Key West is not indigenous either.

It took so long for those trees to grow and mature. It took minutes to destroy something so beautiful. For no damned good reason.