Please allow me to clarify that developer John Wieland removed not just one but three majestic oak trees without permission from the "old home place" only a few yards from the street. He also is removing hundreds even further from the street that also much exceed the 15-inch "specimen" status.

Mr. Wieland has been building and developing for many years. He is well aware of laws and ordinances. The way all traces of these gigantic oaks were removed overnight as if by magic attests to the fact that there was knowledge of wrongdoing. In other areas of the subdivision, felled trees remain in large piles.

Trees help bring continuity to a community. A pleasant part of driving by them was to wonder if little girls used to swing from their limbs or if little boys ever built tree houses in them or if families ever ate homemade ice cream in their protective shade. These trees were an honorable reminder of the past, pleasantly linking it to the present.

Not only that, they were home to two red-tail hawks and an owl. A favorite daily pastime was to peruse these regal beauties to see how many of these magnificent birds of prey were nesting there at any one time. Their silhouettes in the oaks at dusk were like a postcard of nature. Now, thanks to Mr. Wieland, these birds have lost their natural habitat for nesting and hunting. We have also observed a mother killdeer and her baby who have lost their home.

Rather than adjusting the subdivision drawings to save as many trees as possible, Mr. Wieland chose to destroy whatever got in the way of one more house and one more dollar. I wonder what reaction he would have if someone came to the property across from his home, removed beautiful oaks, and replaced them with spindly two- to four-foot pine seedlings.

With the continued loss of trees, Mr. Wieland and all the other careless developers contribute to the erosion of the protective ozone layer, making way for more varieties of cancer and other diseases to strike us and our families.

Native Americans believe that all living things, even trees, have a soul and try to live in honor of God's natural laws. It is too bad builders and developers do not choose to live with the same honor.

Some developers have moved away from the "cookie cutter" approach. It is discouraging and disappointing to learn that a developer as active as Mr. Wieland is behind the times and failing to adopt more progressive community planning techniques.