Native Trees, Please

As a National Audubon Society member I was surprised to read the objections to UCLA cutting down its eucalyptus trees (“UCLA Fells Trees on Westwood Blvd.,� June 20). These Australian trees are not native to the United States and represent how overgrown California is with nonnative plants. Replacing them with the equally offensive Canary Island Pines (which, by the way, are fast disappearing on the Canary Islands) is the equivalent of jumping out of a 10th-story window to escape a fire. Why doesn’t UCLA plant some native sycamores or cottonwoods?

Thomas Miko

Pasadena