This Op-Ed perpetuates the false narrative that we can only house new neighbors by cutting down Seattle’s trees. We can and should grow our housing stock and our urban forest at the same time.

The science has long been in that urban trees give us cleaner air, cooler summers and better outcomes on every measurable public health metric. Our current building code puts protection of trees in new developments on a separate “tree review” track, which complicates the process.

What if each development started with a look at the existing trees and how new homes could be built while retaining them? Seattle would retain the ecological benefits of our established urban forest, and the residents of the future homes would enjoy the health benefits of living close to big trees.

Sandy Shettler, Seattle