Proofreading Required: Letter About Deforestation to the Mayor

Question

This is part of an assignment for my Spanish class. The objective is write a short letter to our mayors about an environmental issue, and what might become of it if nothing is done to stop it.

I am especially concerned about any grammar mistakes.

Quierido Mike McGinn: A mí me sorprende que no exista un programa de reciclaje en nuestra ciudad. Los árboles se van en peligro de extinción a menos que usted cree un programa de reciclaje. Usted debe proteger a los árboles por la deforestación antes de que la contaminación del aire está un mejor problema. Ojalá que usted cree un programa de reciclaje para evitar estos problemas. Harman

For reference, this is what I am basically trying to say:

Dear Mike McGinn, It surprised me that there is no recycling program in our city. The trees are going to become endangered unless you create a recyling program. You must protect these trees from deforestation before air contamination becomes a major issue. Hopefully, you create a recycling program to prevent/avoid these problems Harman

I've put what I think might be wrong in bold, please point out any other possible issues if you can.

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

"Querido" sounds strange to me unless he's your sweetie. Does antes de que take the subjunctive? I think that it does.

Answer 2

"Querido" sounds strange to me unless he's your sweetie. Does antes de que take the subjunctive? I think that it does.

Answer 3

What about the de/por/para issue?

Answer 4

I think your "por" in bold should be "de".

And... I think that "estos" should be "estes."

Please wait for confirmation, though, as I'm not 100% sure.

EDIT: also, the "a" before "los arboles" seems unnecessary. To me, it looks like a personal "a", since it would normally be the direct object. But, you never use personal "a"s except for with people. Unless you are trying to be emphatic about your point by equating trees with people... and I'm not sure if that is really grammatically correct or not.

SECOND EDIT: I'm posting a link to our dictionary's definition of proteger. It uses "de" after the verb, not para, or por. They both mean "for", implying direction or purpose for a goal. You are trying to say something about protection from something, implying a distance between them, not a an ultimate goal or the purpose behind a goal.

proteger

Instead of a, what should I use? I would rather use it correctly than try and explain to my professor that I was trying to prove a point. Should I remove it? I don't think por should be de, maybe para? Thanks for the tip about estes. - Harman_M, Oct 23, 2010

I don't think anything should be there since it is a direct object and therefore can stand alone. If you are trying to make a point, then I assume that is the only way to do it. I'm just not sure if it comes across that way in Spanish, that's all. - megan5, Oct 23, 2010

I mean, I assume that using the "a" is the only way to make your point. I realized afterward that what I said above was somewhat vague. - megan5, Oct 23, 2010