To the editor:

It was a beautiful Christmas present to open the Dec. 24 issue of the Journal-World and see Joyce Kilmer’s poem “Trees” next to Mike Yoder’s photograph of the devastation caused by Westar’s new “proactive” tree policy (see Journal-World, Dec. 21). We thought we were the only ones who were feeling like Lawrence has lost (and will continue to lose) a piece of itself as Westar’s new policy removes hundreds of trees and halves hundreds more.

We are becoming acquainted with vistas of backyards and the glow of streetlights and piercing, outdoor spotlights that the now-gone-forever trees in our yard and in the yards of our neighbors used to conceal. Come summer, we will miss the cool shade, the sound of the leaves in the wind and the songs of the orioles and wrens that used to nest in those trees. We already miss the winter birds that no longer come to our feeders because our backyard has more in common with a Los Angeles parking lot than the nature habitat it used to be. 

Thank you, Mike, for your picture and thank you for the poem. Maybe other people in Lawrence will feel the same way.