Originally Posted by
YmoBeThere
Yes, it is expensive to knock them down and it is expensive to plant new ones. But more important is the time lost, especially on a mature tree. I can google my first house and see the two trees I planted there, which are now 20 years old. I only wish I had planted more.
I have had some exposure to planning and development in Montgomery County, Maryland. When the planning department approves a plan, it includes the preservation of existing trees (although, to be sure, some will be toppled). Each tree in the approved plan is given a price tag. If it is cut down "by accident" or dies for any reason, the developer pays the county, which then takes charge of replacing the tree.
Of course, the evil Dan Snyder, well before he bought the Washington football team, bought a house in Potomac that was high above the river and the C&O Canal. I went by there on a Christmas Bird Count one December and had a clear view of his big white house, a jarring experience to say the least and the only such blot on a four-mile walk along the Canal. Mr. Snyder had cut all the trees on the bluff to get a view of the River. Uhhh, Dan, Dan? Those trees were in the C&O National Park. He was pursued relentlessly, and I believe was fined and the trees were replanted -- but much smaller -- so for some amount of cash and notoriety he got his Potomac view, for at least a few years.
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013