County Destruction of Trees
 

Yesterday, a county work crew came down our small country road unannounced
and began grinding off the overhanging trees.

Now, of course we all know that tree branches hanging over a road can
interfere with traffic, and that the road departments have every right to
come along and maintain a clear path along our roads.

But just to make sure what was going on, I phoned the county road
department as the crew began their work. Having a beautiful live oak near
the roadside, I was none to happy at the thought of what was about to
happen. The county road dept. representative insisted that there was no
crew of theirs out in my area, and that my road was not targeted for a
chop job. He suggested that it was the electric company, clearing trees
away from powerlines.

Now, I may not know everything, but I know what a telephone pole looks
like. There are NONE near the roadside here! So, who are these guys
coming down the road?

I phoned the police. The officer said something like "They are cutting
trees? So what?". Once again, the local constabulary comes up on the low
end of the customer service scale. No help. Thank you, Williamson
county.

The neighbors were then contacted, and came out to meet with the
supervisor. It was obvious that we did not want our trees chopped. After
about 30 minutes of complaints, the supervisor said he had several more
streets he could be working on, and they left without doing the entire
road.

But this didn't help my old live oak out there. Have you ever taken a
close look at the results of the county's attempts to cut the trees back?
The remaining stumps are splintered, with various pieces of bark scraped
off. And, they applied absolutely no sealer to these wounds!

And do you know that trimming of live oaks between February and July is
bad practice? There are beetles which are very active during this time
period which love to spread Oak Wilt disease. It's no wonder blights such
as Oak Wilt run unchecked across our country, with local entities who know
and care nothing about our natural resources.

Those trees were not a problem. We are a rural road, posted as "No Thru
Trucks". There was plenty of room. The local residents liked the trees as
they were (and are).

So tell me - when can I expect to see the county back out here to clean-up
the wood chips which are sitting in my front yard? The crew aimed their
chipper exhaust directly at my property, and there's a mess out there.
And when will they be back with a hydraulic bucket and have those tree
limbs properly cut and sealed against infestation?

Or, is this simply another example of Texans being "Texans"?

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 11:51:25 -0500, "JulioF"
wrote:

Or, is this simply another example of Texans being "Texans"?

I would be burning the phone lines to my County Precint Commissioner
and after the lines failed, I'd go down and sit in their office. Did
they have county logos on the doors of their vehicles? Also, each
Precint likely has its own Roads Division. I would find out the head
of that one and also do some very load complaining.

As far as Texans, it sounds to me like it is "Carpetbaggers" that have
been a statewide nuisance for close to a century and a half now.

Rusty Mase

Rusty Mase wrote:

On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 11:51:25 -0500, "JulioF"
wrote:



Or, is this simply another example of Texans being "Texans"?



I would be burning the phone lines to my County Precint Commissioner
and after the lines failed, I'd go down and sit in their office. Did
they have county logos on the doors of their vehicles? Also, each
Precint likely has its own Roads Division. I would find out the head
of that one and also do some very load complaining.

As far as Texans, it sounds to me like it is "Carpetbaggers" that have
been a statewide nuisance for close to a century and a half now.

Rusty Mase


Yeah, Julio had my deepest sympathy --right up until that last line.

DT
http://www.thehungersite.com/

As far as Texans, it sounds to me like it is "Carpetbaggers" that
have been a statewide nuisance for close to a century and a half now.

Rusty Mase


Yeah, Julio had my deepest sympathy --right up until that last line.

DT

Same here, and I'm not even a Texan. Guess we could make a few remarks
about those damn illegal aliens running rampant around here.

Oh wow someone in Williamson county is hugging a tree




On Fri, 04 Feb 2005 11:51:25 -0500, "JulioF"
wrote:

Yesterday, a county work crew came down our small country road unannounced
and began grinding off the overhanging trees.

Now, of course we all know that tree branches hanging over a road can
interfere with traffic, and that the road departments have every right to
come along and maintain a clear path along our roads.

But just to make sure what was going on, I phoned the county road
department as the crew began their work. Having a beautiful live oak near
the roadside, I was none to happy at the thought of what was about to
happen. The county road dept. representative insisted that there was no
crew of theirs out in my area, and that my road was not targeted for a
chop job. He suggested that it was the electric company, clearing trees
away from powerlines.

Now, I may not know everything, but I know what a telephone pole looks
like. There are NONE near the roadside here! So, who are these guys
coming down the road?

I phoned the police. The officer said something like "They are cutting
trees? So what?". Once again, the local constabulary comes up on the low
end of the customer service scale. No help. Thank you, Williamson
county.

The neighbors were then contacted, and came out to meet with the
supervisor. It was obvious that we did not want our trees chopped. After
about 30 minutes of complaints, the supervisor said he had several more
streets he could be working on, and they left without doing the entire
road.

But this didn't help my old live oak out there. Have you ever taken a
close look at the results of the county's attempts to cut the trees back?
The remaining stumps are splintered, with various pieces of bark scraped
off. And, they applied absolutely no sealer to these wounds!

And do you know that trimming of live oaks between February and July is
bad practice? There are beetles which are very active during this time
period which love to spread Oak Wilt disease. It's no wonder blights such
as Oak Wilt run unchecked across our country, with local entities who know
and care nothing about our natural resources.

Those trees were not a problem. We are a rural road, posted as "No Thru
Trucks". There was plenty of room. The local residents liked the trees as
they were (and are).

So tell me - when can I expect to see the county back out here to clean-up
the wood chips which are sitting in my front yard? The crew aimed their
chipper exhaust directly at my property, and there's a mess out there.
And when will they be back with a hydraulic bucket and have those tree
limbs properly cut and sealed against infestation?

Or, is this simply another example of Texans being "Texans"?

Lynn Blunt wrote:
Oh wow someone in Williamson county is hugging a tree

My thoughts exactly! I figured they'd prefer to pave over the trees... :)

--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

Ok ok. That was a cheap shot I made. It's just been so frustrating to
experience the continuing wild west mentality here. This isn't the first
time. Of course I know that I'm free to "get out of Dodge" if I don't like
it. But doing that would just reinforce the powers that be.

Where's that ballot box?

Then again, even THAT has proven to be questionable around here. Sigh...

Thanks, Victoria. :-)

Yes, more WalMarts is what this country needs. More of their discrimination
against women (limited career opportunities) and questionable hiring
practices. But enough of that - off topic.

I'm very sorry to hear that your neighborhood flora is being bulldozed.
Perhaps the best thing to do is send a flyer to all of your neighbors
pointing out the damage, and encouraging them to avoid shopping there. That
won't bring back the nature, but it may eventually bring back the bulldozers
to level an unused building.

An article in the Statesman just yesterday pointed out that trimming Oaks
now is a no-no due to the increased risk of Oak Wilt, as stated in my first
message here. I suppose it's too much to ask that qualified
horticulturists/arborists be retained, with project influence and veto
power, by the local governments in order to preserve the very charm and
allure which has been responsible for the increases in population in this
portion of the country.

I wonder what it would take to incorporate a new city, with leadership which
was respectful of the environment? Let's build those malls and megastores
on the outskirts of town in the most barren areas, with minimal destruction
of the native landscape. And build a small light rail or bus system for
easy access. Ah! Dreaming again...

Have a great week!
JulioF...

"Don't it always seem to go - that you don't know what you've got 'til it's
gone? They've paved paradise... put up a parking lot."

JulioF wrote:

Thanks, Victoria. :-)

Yes, more WalMarts is what this country needs. More of their discrimination
against women (limited career opportunities) and questionable hiring
practices. But enough of that - off topic.

I'm very sorry to hear that your neighborhood flora is being bulldozed.
Perhaps the best thing to do is send a flyer to all of your neighbors
pointing out the damage, and encouraging them to avoid shopping there. That
won't bring back the nature, but it may eventually bring back the bulldozers
to level an unused building.

An article in the Statesman just yesterday pointed out that trimming Oaks
now is a no-no due to the increased risk of Oak Wilt, as stated in my first
message here. I suppose it's too much to ask that qualified
horticulturists/arborists be retained, with project influence and veto
power, by the local governments in order to preserve the very charm and
allure which has been responsible for the increases in population in this
portion of the country.

I wonder what it would take to incorporate a new city, with leadership which
was respectful of the environment? Let's build those malls and megastores
on the outskirts of town in the most barren areas, with minimal destruction
of the native landscape. And build a small light rail or bus system for
easy access. Ah! Dreaming again...

Have a great week!
JulioF...

"Don't it always seem to go - that you don't know what you've got 'til it's
gone? They've paved paradise... put up a parking lot."


One man's "barren area" is another man's unspoiled wilderness. Which
"barren areas" did you have in mind, the Hill Country barren areas to
the west, or the good farmland barren areas to the east?

DT
http://www.thehungersite.com/

Julio,

Contact Jim Rooni 512-451-2178 at the Texas Forest Service in
Austin and also the local Ag Extension agent Ronald Leps
512-943-3300(who happens to sit in the same building as the head of
Williamson County Road and Bridge) in addition to your county
commissioner (certified letters to the latter 2 work well). The county
did the same to us a couple of years ago. Did you notice they also
didn't seal any of the cuts they made? Nor did they sterilize their
equipment in between cuts.

Jim said the county was setting us back 100's of years in terms of oak
wilt by using the equipment and methods that they do. Ours was not the
first time they have been warned - if enough folks complain maybe we
can finally put a stop to this.

MKC

JulioF wrote:
Yesterday, a county work crew came down our small country road
unannounced
and began grinding off the overhanging trees.

So tell me - when can I expect to see the county back out here to
clean-up
the wood chips which are sitting in my front yard? The crew aimed
their
chipper exhaust directly at my property, and there's a mess out
there.
And when will they be back with a hydraulic bucket and have those
tree
limbs properly cut and sealed against infestation?

Or, is this simply another example of Texans being "Texans"?

Good point there, DT.

If you prefer the forested areas be the ones bulldozed and paved, good for
you! You have as much right to complain as anyone else.

Perhaps the answer is to follow the precedents which big biz has set over
the past several years. Build in India and China, and ship goods to the US.
As long as the products can be purchased on the wages we all earn
delivering pizzas to each other, we'll be just fine.

Thanks for the info. Will do!

Maybe move to Canada where there are a lot of trees.


"JulioF" wrote in message
...
Good point there, DT.

If you prefer the forested areas be the ones bulldozed and paved, good for
you! You have as much right to complain as anyone else.

Perhaps the answer is to follow the precedents which big biz has set over
the past several years. Build in India and China, and ship goods to the
US.
As long as the products can be purchased on the wages we all earn
delivering pizzas to each other, we'll be just fine.

Hopefully the Texas politicians don't move to Canada. Wouldn't wish that on
any country.

Well, maybe Iran or N. Korea...

wrote:

Julio,

Contact Jim Rooni 512-451-2178 at the Texas Forest Service in
Austin and also the local Ag Extension agent Ronald Leps
512-943-3300(who happens to sit in the same building as the head of
Williamson County Road and Bridge) in addition to your county
commissioner (certified letters to the latter 2 work well). The county
did the same to us a couple of years ago. Did you notice they also
didn't seal any of the cuts they made? Nor did they sterilize their
equipment in between cuts.

Jim said the county was setting us back 100's of years in terms of oak
wilt by using the equipment and methods that they do. Ours was not the
first time they have been warned - if enough folks complain maybe we
can finally put a stop to this.

MKC


Are you sure it's "County?" Maybe it's the developer of some nearby
spot they are trying to sell.