Wellesley trees whacked

Wellesley Townsman reported on more than 90 trees being illegally cut down at Wellesley’s Boulder Brook Reservation Trail at the direction of a  property manager for Weston’s Steve Belkin, owner of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks (who once had a player named Tree Rollins who was involved in a classic basketball game fight with current Wellesley resident and ex-Celtics player Danny Ainge. The story goes that Rollins bit Ainge, leading to headlines of “Tree bites man”) and Belkin Farm in Natick.

In case you’re wondering what the damage looks like, here are some pictures we snapped today.

Channel 5 Boston also paid a visit to the site.

By the way, the Wellesley Trails Committee will be hosting a walk at Boulder Brook on June 5 from 9-10am, so you can get a look at what’s become of the area then  (here’s info on that and other guided walks this spring).

The Wellesley Natural Resources is figuring out how much the fine should be for the tree cut-down, for which the property manager is very apologetic. He insists Belkin and family weren’t looking to cut down trees for a better view, but rather, appreciated the privacy given by the trees. As for Belkin, he is quoted in the Towmsman piece as saying: “I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Maybe one teensy timely silver lining: This tree stump looks like a Valentine:

(Disclosure: I’m on the trails committee)