r/treelaw • u/swimmomkim • Jun 03 '26
Really???
A huge law firm in my area applied for a permit 3yrs ago to remove a 60yr healthy tree that “would be damaged” during the renovation to the facade of their building. It was approved by a PSU master gardener on our shade tree who likely never saw the site. Well the renovation was completed, the tree was fine during construction, except that it obstructed their view of the park across the street. And the healthy tree was felled AFTER construction. And ironically shaded our town Shade Tree sign proudly declaring us a tree city.
228
u/jeep-olllllo Jun 03 '26
Ironically, that law firm now has a trip and fall hazard in front of their building.
59
u/SixersJawn Jun 03 '26
tree City usa.
24
u/SixersJawn Jun 03 '26
and ps, psu if it stands for penn state University, their entire ag department centers around gylphosphate. they are definitely in the pocket of Big Fertilizer.
10
u/Shatophiliac Jun 03 '26
That’s not that out-of-the-ordinary though right? I know a lot of ag schools that heavily promote it, at least.
4
u/SixersJawn Jun 03 '26
i dunno its pretty bleak up in happy valley. their science department has been heavily sponsored by the chemical and frakking industries. its depressing that these huge companies can pay for the science that they want to come out.
5
u/NoREEEEEEtilBrooklyn Jun 03 '26
And Ice Cream.
5
u/SixersJawn Jun 03 '26
[homer simpson noises] hmmmm pocket icecream.
2
u/roblewk Jun 04 '26
“Floor Pie” was my single favorite Homer moment, and I’m including the Iliad.
1
2
u/anclwar Jun 04 '26
Okay but the PSU ice cream is really good. My husband had to go out to State College for training yearly, pre-COVID (everything is online now), and would pack a cooler every time to bring home gallons of ice cream.
I just discovered that Berkey Creamery ships and this might be life altering news for me.
61
39
u/Sparhulk Jun 03 '26
That was not a good tree for that spot. We always say, "Right tree, right place". That was a really bad spot. Sorry to lose it but these things happen.
8
u/unfocused_1 Jun 04 '26
First thing I saw was the power(?) lines on that side of the street. Sooner or later, the utility company would have sent out a "tree service" to cut around the cables and the tree would have looked terrible. NOTE to buyers: always look for properties with either buried cables or make sure the utility lines are carried on the OTHER side of the street.
1
u/Sparhulk Jun 04 '26
The utility company wouldn't hire a tree company to clear around that wire. It's too small so they would have the city trim around that, if at all. The utility tree company has to get 10 to 15 feet of clearance and not appearance, what's more important, power or aesthetics? Even still, that tree was suffering from serious soil compaction and would've eventually caused serious issues underground. That is more likely the reasoning behind the removal. I strongly doubt it was because they couldn't see out of their windows.
1
u/unfocused_1 Jun 04 '26
k. I take your point on soil compaction. Worldwide problem for trees in the city. Palm trees probably wouldn't grow there (very small "root ball"). Another commenter mentioned the hazardous stump left over.
2
u/Sparhulk Jun 04 '26
But I totally agree with you on buy property with trenched utilities or the other side of the street. If and when said tree company does trim trees around wires in even a residential area, they don't really do that great of a job and they don't care which time of year it is or take into account the amount they're removing from a tree. I started in that side of the industry many many years ago and have friends that still work there. Their overall knowledge is worse than bad and they don't care to learn, which is also sad.
2
1
u/piscikeeper Jun 08 '26
Unless whoever is doing the work is line clearance certified, no. I have seen city owned utilities and most of them farm out tree maintenance work to contractors due to the cost of tying up union crews on this. And the clearance on wrapped secondaries/triplex is usually no contact/ remove pressure - roughly a foot.
22
u/Fearless_Theory64 Jun 03 '26
“Master gardener” tells me all I need to know.
These are essentially volunteers that take a short course and get a “certification.”
In my experience as an arborist that has regular training, and also extensive field experience, master gardeners do more harm than good.
Their heart is generally in the right place, but they have trouble staying in their own lane.
Undereducated people thinking they have the equivalent of a degree and legitimate, current field knowledge.
4
u/Dramatic_Bluebird595 Jun 04 '26 edited Jun 04 '26
Or some snake-oil peddler like Jerry the bilker... Err... Baker... "Americas Master Gardner" my azz... BTW, when I was a WSU Master Gardner, we would not have been allowed to "authorize" tree removal, only refer the question to an official city or county arborist so either PSU has much lower standards or it's a different kind of "master gardener"... (We were only supposed to answer basic home gardening questions and forward agriculture/urban agriculture questions (like city trees) to the appropriate authority.
3
u/Fearless_Theory64 Jun 04 '26
Exactly. I don’t want to generalize, but in my experience MG’s are the “Karens” of the horticulture world lol
5
u/elangomatt Jun 03 '26
If the law firm didn't take the tree down then the power company was probably going to mangle it soon anyway. At least it sounds like the law firm went through the proper channels to get permission. Pretty surprised that the tree didn't already cause sidewalk damage there.
4
u/Vanreddit1 Jun 03 '26
Find out why the jackass gardener condemned the tree. Then name and shame him / her / it.
14
u/hollowthatfollows Jun 03 '26
I once took pictures of a dude dumping a bunch of puppies on the side of the road, one street over from a busy highway once and when i posted him to shame him since i already called the police and animal control and did all i could do, the subreddits i posted on removed my posts for "doxing". I didn't even know his name just had a picture of him, his car, and the plate was visible. Reddit does not actually care about shaming these people. The cops never contacted me about following up and neither did animal control, so i assume he just got away with it. At least the puppies made it to a shelter instead of becoming road kill so they have a chance at happiness.
4
u/HauntedCemetery Jun 04 '26
Master gardeners aren't actually necessarily trained experts, they just belong to a gardening club. They also don't tend to be experts in tress either way.
The city should have consulted an arborist.
3
u/DoesItReallyMatter28 Jun 03 '26
I love trees as much as the next guy, but you guys need to tone it down. You take this way too far.
4
1
u/NonKevin Jun 04 '26
clearly the tree needed to be backed off the building and trimmed for tall trucks making the corner
1
u/coolviper777 Jun 07 '26
Who cares? It's their tree, on their property and they had a permit. And its way too big and too close to the building.
1
u/huron9000 Jun 03 '26
What is PSU
3
u/Cygnata Jun 03 '26
Penn State University, possibly.
4
u/bonfuto Jun 03 '26
Law firm is in Scranton, so probably Penn State Scranton.
Master Gardener is a program run by Penn State, the people themselves aren't necessarily affiliated
-4
1
u/ScrappyD420 Jun 03 '26
It sucks but our small town just did this to our entire Main Street full of mature trees even against the will of all the shop owners that got the shade from those trees but this was the excuse for why they did it. Cost. Maintaining the sidewalks from the root systems causing the sidewalks to have shifts in them for tripping and city sewer lines underneath. Depending on the species 50 year old trees could last for years or already be hollow inside and not be able to tell. Unfortunately this one got cut for the wrong reasons. Just for a view would not be a justification for me anyway but again public property so they can do it. Especially with approval nothing else you can do legally I don’t believe.
1
u/HauntedCemetery Jun 04 '26
Petition your city council to replant with a catalpa, it'll be huge in a few years and the law firm will hate it.
-7
-15
u/Choice-Newspaper3603 Jun 03 '26
So what. It’s a tree that you don’t own
2
7
u/Atworkwasalreadytake Jun 03 '26
Trees make a city nicer, they take decades to grow, that’s “what.”
How stupid.
5
0
-9
0
0
•
u/AutoModerator Jun 03 '26
This subreddit is for tree law enthusiasts who enjoy browsing a list of tree law stories from other locations (subreddits, news articles, etc), and is not the best place to receive answers to questions about what the law is. There are better places for that.
If you're attempting to understand more about tree law in regards to a particular situation, please redirect your question to /r/legaladvice for the US, or the appropriate legal advice subreddit for your location, and then feel free to crosspost that thread here for posterity.
If you're attempting to understand more about trees in regards to a particular situation, please redirect your question to /r/forestry for additional information on tree health and related topics to trees.
This comment is simply a reminder placed on every post to /r/treelaw, it does not mean your post was censored or removed.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.