EDITORIAL FEEL-GOOD FOLIAGE MILLION TREE INITIATIVE NOT LIVING UP TO HYPE.IN this sun-scorched town of smoggy smog n. 1. Fog that has become mixed and polluted with smoke. 2. A form of air pollution produced by the photochemical reaction of sunlight with hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides that have been released into the atmosphere, days and endless concrete, what could sound better than a plan to populate To plug in chips or components into a printed circuit board. A fully populated board is one that contains all the devices it can hold. the streets, boulevards and parks with the shade and beauty of a million trees? That's more than the city even has now, and equals one tree for every four Angelenos -- more than 2,000 for every square mile of city. Put in those terms, it starts to become clear why one year after its introduction, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Million Trees L.A. plan is having a hard time living up to the hype hype 1 Slang n. 1. Excessive publicity and the ensuing commotion: the hype surrounding the murder trial. 2. . Despite giving away thousands of tree seedlings in the past year at many events, the city has no idea where the seedlings have gone, whether they were planted in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. or even if they are still alive. City officials say that over the program's first year, 110,000 trees were planted. Yet there are no records to prove that. Only the promise that they will start keeping records soon. The Million Trees L.A. program is shaping up to be another feel-good scheme that was good public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most , but the execution by City Hall fell short -- as usual. Who could argue with having a greener city? Residents in particularly tree-barren places like Sun Valley and South L.A. were happy to hear of this environmentalist-approved program that partnered with other organizations and corporations to both plant trees and give them away to people to plant in their own backyards. Planting a million trees during Villaraigosa's tenure -- that's 125,000 a year for eight years -- was always going to be a challenging goal, especially considering the possibility of drought and water rationing rationing, allotment of scarce supplies, usually by governmental decree, to provide equitable distribution. It may be employed also to conserve economic resources and to reinforce price and production controls. . The image of a shady, tree-lined city keeping Angelenos cool is an attractive one. But as nice as it sounds, it might not be reasonable for a desert city that has a hard enough time keeping its current trees trimmed to become an oasis oasis (ōā`sĭs), an area within a desert where the water table reaches the surface, with enough moisture to permit the growth of vegetation. The water may come up to the surface in springs, or it may collect in mountain hollows. overnight -- or even over a decade. Perhaps on the one-year anniversary, the mayor might consider scaling back the program to a realistic level, which includes strategically planting native and drought-tolerant seedlings and saplings throughout the city -- and making sure they live to grow into actual trees. Call it, maybe, Thousands of Trees L.A. |
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