KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. — Kalamazoo County neighbors in the southern portion of the county, near Schoolcraft and Vicksburg, organized against a proposal by the Kalamazoo County Road Commission to remove up to 8,000 trees along country roads. Their efforts helped cut that number in half.
The road commission’s plan, part of an initiative called “Safe Streets for All,” called for removing trees the commission says pose a safety risk when vehicles leave the road. Residents first learned of the plan when orange X marks began appearing on trees along their streets.
“They were marking all of our trees down our street with a big orange X,” Georgia Evans, a Kalamazoo County neighbor, said…