Brief to cut down trees (5)

I believe the answer is:

terse

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'brief' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'cut down trees' is the wordplay.
'trees' anagrams to 'TERSE'.
But, I am not clear how the anagram is indicated.

'to' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for terse that I've seen before include "Short and succinct" , "Aphoristic" , "Short, abrupt" , "Abrupt, concise" , "Compact" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.

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