Stouffville students help save 200-year-old Dutch Elm tree at future GO station

The Lincolnville GO expansion threatened the future of the town's oldest tree

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 27, 2019
Simon Martin

When Oscar Peterson Public School Grade 8 teacher Andrea Izzo heard that a rare 200-year-old Dutch Elm tree was at risk in Stouffville earlier this year, he thought it would be a great case study for his Grade 8 geography class.

“Sustainability is part of the curriculum. I thought it would be a good local connection for the kids,” he said. “The response exceeded my expectations.”

The tree is on the property of the future site of the Lincolnville GO station planned for construction next year.

“I like to promote independent thought so I asked the kids to figure out where they stand on the issue,” Izzo said.

The class had a good cross-section of opinion with some people favouring cutting the tree down. Izzo invited arborist Mark Carroll to the class where he explained to the students what this particular tree so special.

“It is the largest and may be the oldest tree in Whitchurch-Stouffville,” Carroll said, noting the tree is 40 metres tall, with a canopy 40 metres wide and a four-metre trunk circumference.

“There are not many left in Ontario, and we need these types of trees to further the recovery of true American elms,” he said. “It’s such a great healthy tree, it would be a shame to lose this one.”

Izzo’s students wrote letters to Metrolinx and Markham-Stouffville MPP Paul Calandra in efforts to get more information and to save the tree. Jaxon Bouwmeister, Anne Coutts and Shaaranya Sugumar were in a group that wrote a letter to Calandra. In their letter they focused on how Dutch Elm disease had affected many trees and how this particular one had survived. “I think that’s why most of our class didn’t want it to be cut down because you realize how rare the tree was,” Bouwmeister said.

Coutts thought there was a 50/50 chance the tree could be saved. “There were so many pros to keeping the tree alive,” she said.

They weren’t the only students to advocate for saving the tree. The Eco Club at St. Brigid Catholic Elementary School collected 400 signatures in an effort to save the tree.

So when Izzo’s class was invited to the site of the tree for an announcement earlier this month with Calandra and Metrolinx they were pretty sure the tree was going to be preserved.

Even though it was PA Day, 12 students from Izzo’s class made it to the site. “It was important for our community,” Sugumar said.

Calandra told the students that it may have seemed like a small thing they did but their work did make an impression on the outcome.

“It felt like our voice had been actually heard and that we had a part in saving this tree,” Sugumar said.

The Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville and Metrolinx worked together to make sure the tree was preserved.

“This tree is of significant historical importance for the people of Whitchurch-Stouffville and I am pleased to see that Metrolinx will redesign the GO station to incorporate the tree,” Calandra said.

“We are thrilled to have collaborated with Metrolinx on this important issue,” Mayor Iain Lovatt said. “By safeguarding this significant natural heritage feature, this landmark American Elm tree can be enjoyed for generations to come.”

The lessons Izzo’s students took away from the project were varied. “When you believe in something you have to go ahead and make a change and try to do something that’ll affect what’s going to happen,” Coutts said.

“I also learned how public pressure can be strong enough to change something in the community,” Sugumar added.

Metrolinx is expanding the train layover at Lincolnville from six to nine tracks to accommodate more trains and more service on the Stouffville line, which requires that Metrolinx relocate the existing station.

The new station will have 750 parking spots, enhanced access to the station for pedestrian and cyclists, a bus loop to connect GO Transit customers with local transit, accessible platforms and barrier-free access to the parking and passenger pickup and drop-off area.