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Picture: The pond behind the dam, looking south toward the dam from the middle of the Mill River Park to the west of the Mill River Pond, Stamford CT April 25, 2006. The high, concrete walls prevent people and animals from directly accessing the river. Further, at flood time, the walls cause the water to rise too high and run too fast, ripping out the river bed and causing havoc down stream. As reported in Issue 204, the flooding of April 18-19 due to heavy rains, washed out three-quarters of the goose nests in the vicinity of the pond and probably did equally damage to the nests of our other water fowl.

Picture: Looking south at the Mill Pond from the Broad Street Bridge, May 2006. The "double-whammy" caused by the combination of the walls and the old dam is that, when the river isn't flooding, the water behind the dam is shallow and stagnant, an unhealthy mess of silt, decaying Canada goose poop, and who-knows-what chemical residues from road, lawn, and sewer run-off. Since the pond receives very little shade (those cherry trees are short!), the situation worsens as the sun intensifies in the summer. It is this mess that floods downstream into our precious Long Island Sound. If the river had natural flood plains and a proper continuous flow, this hazardous bio-stew won't build up and the bad chemical stuff would be absorbed into soil of the river bed and the flood plain where nature's filtration system would help lessen the problem.

Picture: Looking down into the water, south of the Mill Pond Dam. Stamford CT April 2006. The dam prevents these fish from mitigating up the Mill River as their ancestors did prior to 1641. A fish ladder at the side of the dam could help many of the fish get over the dam. However, given the current state of the Mill Pond, if I were one of those fish, I'd turn right around and head back south immediately!

Picture: Looking north from the south end of the Mill River Park. Stamford CT December 2005. The problem with implementing the Army Corps of Engineers plan is that Junzo Nojima's cherry trees were planted directly behind the walls, on land needed for sloping flood plains.

Picture: Looking north from Mill Pond toward the Broad Street Bridge. Stamford CT late April 2006: Even this cormorant seems to thinks that the trees are lovely during their short blooming season.

Picture: Looking north from the south end of the Mill River Park. Stamford CT late April 2006: This is what most people see when they drive by the Mill River Park in their cars. From a distance, the geriatric state of the trees is not visible, especially when the trees are in bloom. The lovely looking, but-watch-where-you-step, lawn turf is courtesy of the Canada geese.

Picture: Detail of the above trees. Stamford CT late April 2006

Picture: Looking down into the Mill Pond from the east wall. Stamford CT early May 2006: Cherry blossoms mixed with the spent flowers of the neighboring red oaks, floating down the pond toward the dam, and eventually Long Island Sound. The flowering season lasts 2 to 3 weeks at best.

Picture: A Kwanzan cherry tree towards the middle of the cherry walk. Stamford CT late April 2006: Kwanzan cherry trees are lovely and fast growing but short lived. Their average age is 15- 25 years. The Stamford trees have been standing since 1957 - a tribute to our staunch Parks Department and Junzo Nojima's spirit. By way of comparison, the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens first planted their Kwanzans in 1941 but have replaced them as needed so that, in 2006, the two oldest trees in their cherry walk were planted in 1970. The Stamford trees are so geriatric that several lost major limbs this year under the weight of the flowering branches. Most, if not all, have rotted out internally and are at the end of their life span.

Picture: A Kwanzan cherry tree toward the north end of the cherry walk. Stamford CT early May 2006. These Asian natives have been bred to be sterile, so only leaves follow the flowers -- no fruit. By comparison, our equally-lovely native dogwood (cornus florida) and crabapples provide fruit for our birds and furry critters. The aging Kwanzan do support a very healthy insect population that certain birds appreciate.

Picture: Under the Kwanzan cherry trees toward the middle of the cherry walk. Stamford CT early May 2006: This squirrel has little use for the cherry trees except as an overhead highway and a source of edible tree buds during lean winters.

Picture: looking south from the middle of the cherry walk. Stamford CT Valentine's Day 2006. The cherry trees are too short to provide the squirrels with decent habitat. Indeed, the squirrels are so hard-up for proper winter housing that they are using a hollow in one the of Kwanzans that is only 3 feet off the ground --not at all safe from predators.

THE FUTURE: The current Mill River Corridor proposal suggests replacing the current aged Kwanzans by planting of young Kwanzans all long the restored river from the Broad Street Bridge at the north end of the Mill River Park to the Pulaski Bridge (where the river enters the Stamford Harbor). The vision is a seasonal eye-feast to rival Washington DC's, with kayakers enjoying the view from the water, and picnickers on the new great lawn to be built to the east of the current Park. This proposal has appeal, including commercial aspects that will help pay for the upkeep of the river for everyone's good.

However, all (alien, sterile) cherries all the time doesn't work for us New Englanders. Who wants 3 weeks of pretty followed by sterile nothing when we can have it all?

We need our beautiful, stately hardwoods for their lovely spring flowers, cooling summer foliage and breath-taking fall color -- maples, ashes, hickory, elms, beech, oaks, cottonwood, tulip, birches, and willows, to name a few. Our critters need the trees for the edible buds, flowers, fruit and nuts, and for their cozy nesting hollows. We need our wonderful conifers for their welcome winter green and a snug winter home for the song birds- white pines, hemlocks, and junipers. Along the river banks and at the edge of wooded areas we need our native shrubs to hold down the banks and provide a proper home for the water fowl and muskrats -- elderberry, arrowwood viburnum, pussy willow, silky dogwood, alder, spicebush, winterberry, and so many more. In between the shrubs, there's even room for our river-side native plants, from spring beauty to joe pye weed.

Another good thing about these hardy natives is that, once established, they need very little care and will last for many times the useful life of the Kwanzans.

We can have it all. Assuming that we want to pay for the up-keep of the short-lived, high-maintenance Kwanzans, we can fit in enough Kwanzans groupings here and there to enjoy the annual 3 week show, up and down the river. If we add to that a full range of our great native Americans, we can have a show every day all year and our critters will have something to eat and a proper place to live.

Picutre: In this city of immigrants, we'll always need a few cherry trees to keep this stone company.

CONCLUSION: So, having thought it through, do you still cling to the existing cherry trees or are you wondering where's good old G. Washington with his axe when we need him?