How much is a tree worth?

What do the following items all have in common? The answer is in the comments section.

Crystal Palace
Queens Park
Wembly
Norwich

I am an active recycler (is this a word?). I save my bottles and paper among other things. If I can reuse something I will get it fixed. I hate throwing stuff away. With that in mind I ask how much is a tree worth?

Not long ago I moved into a house which requires a homeowners association membership. The fees are bearable and I know that value of my home will not drastically decrease because my neighbor's house is an eyesore. I'm not exactly an expert on homeowners associations, but I'm sure that there is some relationship between the developer and the homeowners association. All of this leads me to the following scenario.

The homeowners association requires that there is a tree on the front lawn. I like trees, but they do shed in the fall which means I have to rake leaves. Insects, birds and other living creatures make their abodes in the tree as well, which is a little bothersome. That being said, I have to ask what the point of this "tree requirement" is. They developer came in and ripped thousands of trees to build my home, ruining the habitat of the local ecosystem. Is this some sort of guilty feeling? Some sort of unfair trade? The developers kill so many trees developing the land and later use wood in the home construction. I'm quite confindent that at least 10 trees were probably killed in the process of the construction of my home, yet they demand that I have one tree in my front lawn. I'm not griping about the tree or griping because I want to tear it down and replace it. I'm merely pointing out the contradiction of the developers and homeowners association.