“We must start appreciating our forests as valuable in themselves; they are already occupied”

To the editor:

When Mass Bay Forest came under attack, I spoke out against developing it. I live clear across town, but still, I couldn’t help myself. At the time, protecting any forest seemed obvious to me—a regular person.

But: I’m a regular person in greater Boston. I believe in science; climate change is real. This is stolen land. The least we can do is protect it, and, by extension, protect our ecological health.

Our Town seemingly agreed. They took strong action against the State to defend MassBay forest. However, it felt like hardly a moment passed between suing the State, and the Town announcing a proposal for a new Fire Station in the North 40 Woods.

I saw the announcement: acreage destruction. In the woods. Planned by our governing body. I couldn’t believe it—I had to re-read it.

Hadn’t we just all collectively decried such action? To the point of taking legal action?

This pattern of eyeing our (limited) open spaces for development must concern all of us. All of us on this planet, yes, but specifically, all of us in Wellesley. Because here in Wellesley we have the benefit of elected officials who listen, and act, on our behalf.

So, what should we do about it? What actions must we take?

Let us have a Town reckoning.

We must START appreciating our forests as valuable in themselves; they are already occupied. They are already working. Forests are already an essential part of our Town.

We must STOP viewing our trees and our thriving ecosystems as merely “future building locations.”

Town Meeting: we must formally protect this land—all of it.We must protect North 40 Forest in the same way we are protecting MassBay Forest. (Did we at one point want to develop North 40? Maybe. But I believe true progressivism is “know better, do better.” The world has certainly changed in the eleven years since we took “ownership” of North 40.)

Those of you protecting and defending MassBay Forest: thank you. Please show up and show out for North 40, too. Protect the MassBay Forest: yes. But also protect the North 40 Woods. All of it. Both of them.

As a town, let us reframe trees as treasure—not timber—in perpetuity.

Thank you kindly for your time and consideration,

Giannina L. Garcés Ambrossi Muncey, M.D.