Vines threaten habitat along trail more than birdhouses

In a Feb. 10 article, Tom Gambardella brought to our attention the disappointing news that the Westchester County Parks Department removed hundreds of birdhouses along the South County Trailway. I, along with many others, enjoyed seeing the colorful and eclectic birdhouses and felt they provided a much-needed positive energy to the environment. Why was this positive energy needed? If you spend any time on the trailway, you’ll notice the dismal state of the area as the trees have become overcome with vines that are slowly suffocating and dragging them down to their death. Some areas are so dismal that they bring to mind apocalyptic scenes from Hollywood. If the parks department emphasizes their recent actions were done for the health of the trailway, why are they stepping over the vines to do it and not removing them as well? It’s taken numerous years for these vines to get to this state of affairs. It’s so disheartening to ride a bicycle and see so many large-growth trees getting dragged down to their demise. If we want to restore the health of the trailway, then when is the parks department going to address this greater threat?