The removal of 35 specimen trees from Roswell’s Mimosa Hall has stirred deep emotions. Some of the trees, believed to be as old as 150 years, were cleared to make way for the redevelopment of the grounds and the Founders Park project.
Roswell plans to add 12 new native trees as part of a native plant landscape restoration plan.
What does it mean that 35 specimen trees were cut down? We may not know the full impact, specifically. But in any part of metro Atlanta, the loss of mature trees can leave more than an empty patch of land.
Biologist and author David Haskell has spent decades studying the biology, culture, and interconnectedness of trees and says that when we cut down old trees, we’re not just removing wood. We’re breaking ties with our shared past, our environment, and even each other, he said.
“…That’s why when old trees are taken down, we really feel it,” Haskell said. “It’s the living connection to the land and to our history.”
Haskell has only a general awareness of the project at Mimosa Hall.
The historic site is a 6,308-square-foot Greek Revival mansion built in 1841 for John Dunwody. His son Charles founded the city of Dunwoody with a slight change in spelling.
Haskell explains that as trees absorb sunlight and air, they convert it into sugars and protein. Some of that is sent back to the trunk to form a new growth ring each year. So in a tree that’s 150 years old, the outer ring holds air from 2025, while the innermost wood was literally made from the air and molecules of 1875.
“Those trees are a living history into the past, and not just in a symbolic way,” he said. “Some [of that history], of course, is beautiful and some of it is horrific. And the trees are living witnesses to all of that.”
A Georgia Tech study of the city of Atlanta’s tree canopy estimated total coverage to be 40,609 acres in 2018, with an average loss of about .43 acres of trees per day between 2008 and 2018.
Greg Levine, executive director of Trees Atlanta, said the loss of even a few trees can ripple through a network of animals, insects, plants and tree species.
“Everything gets affected when you take part of it out — It weakens the whole system,” said Levine, who was not commenting on the Roswell project directly.
Haskell says the removal of large, older trees carries significant biological consequences. During spring and fall seasons, birds traveling from Canada and the Northeast come south to feed on the insects in those types of trees.
Large older trees that have an abundance of leaves and branches allow squirrels, owls and woodpeckers “to nest in that tree in a way they can’t with a young tree,” Haskell said. “If you count up the number of leaves on an old oak or old walnut tree, there are lots of places to nest on. Birds are feeding on insects that we can’t even see. [The insects] are hidden in the bark.”
He continued: “Imagine a big tree — there are literally tens of thousands of twigs off that tree which seems pretty irrelevant to us, but for birds, that’s their life. That’s their grocery store.”
Trees have their own way of communicating with each other that scientists are still figuring out. One way, Haskell said, is through the aroma of their leaves. If the tree is beginning to feel affected by climate or a particular type of wildlife, it will communicate through the leafy smell to the other trees.
And their network of roots is also connected to all the microorganisms in the soil and helps build and enrich it, Haskell said.
“So the tree takes some of the food that it makes in its leaves and moves it to its roots, and from the roots into the soil, which then creates possibilities for the future,” he added.
Roswell City Council voted unanimously for the project, which led to the cutting down of the 35 specimen trees. During a recent public forum, officials acknowledged that the number of trees to be removed was never clearly communicated to the public or among themselves.
Councilman David Johnson said that he continues to support the project that will create an outdoor event facility at Mimosa Hall and connect the historic site to nearby landmarks, including Bulloch Hall, Holly Hill, Historic Town Square Park, and Barrington Hall.
“I will stand behind my vote,” Johnson said during the forum. “…I am going to continue to vote for plans that make these [historic] homes financially sustainable. There’s going to be change. Trees are going to go down. It is what it is and I’m sorry about that …”
Still, for some residents, the question remains on how history should be honored amid progress and development.
Paradise lost! They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. Mayor and council should each be permanently banished from town for disregarding public input and the recommendations of the Historical Committee.
They do not listen. They obviously don’t care what their constituents think.
I am deeply saddened by this. This is the most egregious event I can recall in Roswell in my lifetime.
We need to vote out the incumbents (the Mayor and Council) in the 2025 Election this fall.
We must stop the ongoing destruction of nationally recognized historical property, environmental resources, wildlife habitats and the desecration of documented archeological remains. Some of these precious assets may be beyond replacement or repair but we must stop the destruction and desecration of our democracy and hold those who believe they can ignore the rule of law – accountable!
As a Roswell resident, business and property owner for nearly 40 years, I am outraged that Mayor Kurt Wilson and City Council would betray the City of Roswell, our historical, natural and as citizens, human resources.
What’s all this fuss over a few dead trees? Quit being so woke and just cut them all. While at it shut down the sewage treatment plants. Save money and let the river carry the dirt away for free and on to the Gulf of America.