Dear Editor,
Drastic times call for drastic changes. Those of us who have
lived in this valley for 30 years, and in this county for 60 years,
know that the winter of ’57-’58 was an extremely wet year, so much
rain that it washed away the bridge that stood where the current
bridge that crosses the Uvas River at Burchell Road now stands.
Dear Editor,
Drastic times call for drastic changes. Those of us who have lived in this valley for 30 years, and in this county for 60 years, know that the winter of ’57-’58 was an extremely wet year, so much rain that it washed away the bridge that stood where the current bridge that crosses the Uvas River at Burchell Road now stands.
Who among us would have complained/debated that a new bridge was needed? Fortunately at this point we have the luxury of time. If CalTrans or the Core of Engineers, or whatever powers that be, deem that we need a new bridge on said location, so be it. However, sacrificing the magnificent trees that line that quarter should be a concern to anyone who has any appreciation of the history of Gilroy.
I’m reminded of a recent episode I viewed on “Bay Area Back Roads'” a television program featuring northern California, that highlighted the Gilroy community and made note of this same scenic highway from Santa Teresa to Burchell Road, the area where the historic trees are now under the chopping block.
Let me reiterate that drastic times call for drastic changes, but unlike the winter of the middle ’50s, we have the luxury of time.
Admittedly I am not an arborist, but I do know that there are Redwood trees in our state that date more than 1,000 years old. The Deadora cedars that line Highway 152, the corridor in question, are approximately 75 years old. They have withstood some of the most extreme weather conditions in a 100-year cycle.
For example: the extreme draught of the middle ’70s, the devastating floods, not only of the middle ’50s, but the early ’80s, which literally washed away Burchell Road and Hecker Pass at that junction. The biggest threat to those magnificent trees has been the numerous automobile collisions, and yet the trees have withstood all the afore mentioned adversities.
Never let it be said that I am anti-olive tree, because a martini without an olive is not a martini; but Hecker Pass without the Deadora Cedars is not the Gilroy that I, and so many others, know and love.
If progress must be addressed, let us all join forces, and try to save as many of those magnificent trees as possible.
Henry Rubio, Gilroy
