Ecolog:
Yet another well-crafted statement.
When I was, many decades ago, a manager for a very large and heavily-used
public park of considerable fame, we were not permitted to remove large
trees until we could prove beyond a SHADOW of a doubt that the tree was in
imminent danger of falling (stress-cracks in the soil). We would have to
remove such trees from the top, because they could not be felled in that
public environment. This exposed tree crews to great hazard to life and limb
(not to mention the tree's), as such a tree can fall at any time. These
trees were commonly over a hundred feet tall, so removals were very
expensive as well as dangerous. I was denied funding for a study, so I got
two interns from a local university and trained them in survey and mapping
techniques. We mapped hundreds of trees in a particularly heavily-used area
of the park with lots of large trees, collected herbarium specimens,
measured dbh and height, and made notes of any potentially-hazardous
conditions. When I left about a year later, the agency for which I worked
discarded all of the maps and records.
Now there is an urban forester (we did not think of this term in those
days--over 40 years ago), and he seems to be a pretty good one, but he's
overwhelmed. He was overruled by a citizens' revolt and the local
politicians, and that tree remains leaning at a drastic angle (last
measurement, about 37 degrees), the roots opposite the direction of lean
lifting sidewalks and retaining walls and showing other signs that the root
system is increasingly less and less able to hold the tree at that angle
with what is left of their collective tensile strength. Any competent
arborist SHOULD be able to determine that the tree eventually WILL fall (on
parked and/or moving cars, the street, and the sidewalk--and anyone who
happens to be in the way. No one can determine with absolute certainty WHEN
the tree will fall. One thinks of the "rationale" people who live below
volcanoes behave when told to evacuate and there is no eruption--the more
time that passes after the warning, the more the "preservationists" feel
validated. And the higher the risk becomes. When the leverage caused by the
lean exerts more pressure than the roots can stand, roots will break, first
one at a time, then maybe two or three, then an uncounted number as the tree
comes crashing to earth and onto ___________?
WT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Earl Reaves" <iprea...@aacounty.org>
To: <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>
Sent: Monday, January 21, 2013 6:09 PM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Tree stump removal in sensitive area
Hazardous trees are a difficult subject to explain when talking to people.
Trees that are diseased or
structurally sound can be very dangerous to life and property, in fact that
what make them hazardous;
having a 'target' of property or any area frequented by people. And as has
been stated before, when
a tree that is hazardous that has been identified as such by a professional
there is a clear
responsibility to do something about it. The law is not on the side of
anyone that ignores the
existence of a hazardous tree should it fall and injure or kill someone. I
have seen many trees
though that I would deem potentially hazardous that stand for many years.
That being said, it is
impossible to say with 100% certainty if and when a tree will fall. Erring
on the side of caution is
probably the best policy. Especially if you have an obligation to the
public's safety as most municipal
arborists have.
Some members of the public, and I'm not saying anyone on this thread does,
don't see trees as living
things with a limited lifespan. They, in the case of large trees
especially, have 'always' been there.
The fact that a mature tree may be at the end of it's lifespan and under
stress from competition or
from environmental factors could be susceptible to diseases or insects is
not known to them. It's a
matter of continually educating people and helping them understand trees
don't live forever.
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