San Mateo County is an area of great natural beauty and its outstanding heritage tree population has been and continues to be an invaluable asset in contributing to the economic, environmental, and aesthetic stability of the County and the welfare of its people and of future generations. Irresponsible, wanton, and wholesale destruction of heritage trees could, among other things, diminish such beauty, scientific and historical values, adversely affect the environment, reduce property values, detract from scenic highways, and destroy the County’s recreational economy.