Until I had read the recent articles and the editorial ("Speak for the trees," March 3) regarding the decline in the number of trees in Baltimore, I had not thought much about the city's tree canopy and its importance. This has given me a new awareness of the role that trees play, such as controlling the oxygen and carbon dioxide balance and storm water runoff, but also in providing beauty, shade and an enhanced level of ambience.
Several years ago, my wife and I had occasion to visit Kansas City, Mo. Once there, we found that Kansas City is known as "The City of Fountains." In driving around during our stay, we found that that approbation was well-deserved. The many fountains of different designs provide their own beauty and add to a subtle feeling of creating a pleasant city.
By contrast, the only fountains I know of in Baltimore are McKeldin Fountain at Light and Pratt streets, which is more of a waterfall than a fountain, and the fountain in Druid Park Lake, which hasn't worked for a long time. I believe that the addition of new fountains around the city would be a wonderful enhancement. They would be expensive, but with imaginative planning involving grants, fund-raising projects, and other initiatives, it could be done.
George Stiegler, Ellicott City