Anyone who has traveled to the Central Pacific Island of Maui has no doubt witnessed the majestic banyan tree growing in the courthouse square in the historic town of Lahaina, once the capital of Hawaii. The remarkable aboreal fig tree–one of sixty fig tree varieties in Hawaii–dominates the square, now appropriately referred to as Banyan Tree Park.
This is entirely understandable as the tree, which shades nearly twothirds of an acre, boasts a circumference of about a quarter of a mile, capable of sheltering the entire huddled population of Grand Marais under its octopus-like limbs.
A gift from missionaries in India, the original eight foot sapling was planted on April 24, 1873, to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first American Protestant mission; surprisingly, less than a year before Cook County took root: March 9, 1874.
The tree is said to be the largest and oldest banyan tree in both Hawaii and the United States. Makes sense given the tree originated from India, whose Great Banyan Tree–over two hundred and fifty years old covering about three and one-half acres– is considered the widest tree in the world.
Long regarded as a symbol of immortality, a banyan tree has aerial roots that grow down from its branches forming additional trunks which anchor the tree to the ground, giving the tree its nickname: a tree with several feet.
Over time, what was once a small sapling has matured into a monumental behemoth. This growth has necessitated new means of support as the tree now stands over 60 feet high with forty-six major trunks.
Anyone who walks among these trunks and observes the outstretched tentacle-like branches will notice the weight of these branches has required a number of vertical supports to keep them from collapsing.
The Maui County Board assumes responsibility for the ongoing welfare of the long commemorated tree, enlisting the assistance of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation and the Maui County Arborist Committee.
From its ceremonial planting and into the third millennium, the tree’s survival lies largely in the guiding power of its board of directors.
Lesson …
Ever burgeoning growth–whether trees or communities– requires wise leadership providing multiple means of support.
Leaders who would choose to remove these supports, such as reliance on governmental funds in the form of payment of lieu of taxes–like the recently discussed Thye-Blatnik funds–should rightfully be deemed unwise.
If there are no new financial resources to replace these lost revenues, simply shifting this burden to taxpayers should not become “the easy way out.”
If elected officials are to be kept from overburdening our community with the weight of outstretched tentacle-like decisions– many, which in the past few years, have proved to be ill-advised–they either need to find new means of supporting our growing cost of government (highest per capita of Minnesota’s 87 counties) or learn to say, “No.”
If present leadership can’t accomplish this, then many Cook County residents, much like the noisy, riotous flocks of birds in Lahaina–looking for the best banyan branch to settle on come sunset–will be seeking out an alternative safe place to roost themselves.
Link to photo of banyan tree in Lahaina: lahainarestoration.org/lahaina-banyan-tree/
Former Cook County Commissioner Garry Gamble is writing this ongoing column about the various ways government works, as well as other topics. At times the column is editorial in nature.
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