"Ann" wrote in message
...
"Doug Kanter" expounded:

What if the permit is free, but requires a 5 minute look at the tree and a
5
minute talk with the property owner, just to be sure they're not cutting
it
down for stupid reasons? Would that be OK with you?

I guess I just don't see the need (and money has nothing to do with
it). Then again, I wouldn't cut down a beautiful tree for no reason
at all. And I wouldn't cut one down that a neighbor loved (we're
pretty close around here, and many of us are gardeners, or they've
become one living near one ) ) I see lots being cleared around
here and will notice a beautiful oak, and feel bad that it's going to
be cut down to make way for some McMansion. Every once in awhile I'll
notice a tree being left, purposely, it gives me hope someone who
cares is moving onto that lot.

I think Presley has it right. If you live in a metropolitan area,
where trees are a bonus, a premium, then rules are needed II guess) -
there's a brawl going on right now in Boston over a guy who wants to
take down a Norway Maple that the neighbors all love - but it's
wreaking havoc with sewer lines, and he wants to redo his backyard and
gain a parking space. I can't find the reference right now, but he's
the former heahorticultural society or somesuch, he's hardly a slash
and burn guy, and he wants to plant two trees to replace what he's
removing. I think the outcome is in his favor, but it's escalated to
the point where the Boston Globe is covering it. Ok, he's affecting
the aesthetics of lots of people. But out here, we're not.

I understand "out here". A friend of mine has 200+ acres "out there". His
nearest neighbor is 5 minutes away at walking speed. What he does with his
trees affects (pretty much) nobody. But, in a neighborhood like mine, with
1/8 and 1/4 acre lots, that's not always the case.

I think part of the issue here, at least for me, is that I've had direct
experience with a couple of neighbors who are intensely ignorant. I hate to
see a tree or plant ruined out of ignorance.