On the cover of this morning’s Ottawa Citizen paper edition, there is an article about the recent loss of an ancient oak tree in our neighbourhood.

The online version of the article (and not too surprisingly, a few comments too) is available at:
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/urban-forest-champlain-park-residents-mourn-oak-tree

it starts out…

Champlain Park residents outraged after massive bur oak cut down

By Joanne Laucius, Published Oct 28, 2024.

The residents of Champlain Park were shocked on Oct. 21, when machinery moved in to remove a pre-Confederation oak tree on a building site on Keyworth Avenue.

By the end of the day, even the stump of the massive burr oak was gone, said Catherine Shearer, whose lot backs onto the building site.

[… lots of background info and stories, see the surprisingly comprehensive newspaper article …]

“This tree was there in the days of Confederation. It had 150 years left to live,” Johanis said. “There has to be something that can be done to protect this kind of tree.”