The Tree Protection Board currently favors the opinions of tree huggers, which maintains the trees as a preferred species that cannot be cut down without a permit.

Stephen Pategas, a landscape architect and Board member, believes that it is wrong to protect the exotic species of trees because they grow like weeds in Florida with little threat from disease or predators that may attack native trees.

Winter Park is in the process of drawing up plans for the remaking of Mead Garden and at least some of the camphors are destined for removal. The future of Winter Park’s camphors will be decided in 2007, when the City Commission holds public hearings on proposals for updating the tree ordinance.

Pategas said he has counted 16 cities and counties from Alachua to Winter Springs that do not protect or encourage the removal of camphors. “I’m a firm believer in planting the right tree in the right place,” said Pategas, who doesn’t agree with cutting down all of the trees right away. “The camphor tree needs to slowly disappear from our landscape and be replaced with appropriate trees.”