[CANUFNET] defining nuisance trees

Wed Apr 4 08:51:18 EDT 2012

Hi Brad,

I guess nuisance trees mean a lot of different things to a lot of 
different people depending on what side of the fence they're on.

I define nuisance trees as trees that customers deem to be interfering in 
their life for whatever reason but ones that they have no desire to pay 
anything toward mitigation measures such pruning or removal. Perhaps they 
can be better defined as nuisance customer with trees issues (let the 
flaming begin).

Many times these trees are neighbours  trees that are perceived as causing 
issues. They can also be (in my case) trees along easements or back lanes 
that are not on private property but more often or not, City owned 
property and may or may not be growing somewhere near an overhead wire 
which may or may not be energized. When I do receive these service 
requests, I always try to assess the tree for actual hazards and how it 
may or may not be causing real concerns but I also try to protect as many 
of these trees as possible whenever I can.

I've found that the easiest  and most effective method in dealing with 
these trees and the customer complaints (when the tree is not actually an 
issue) is to put the financial onus back onto the client. 
If the tree is in proximity to an energized source, I'll prune or make the 
tree safe for removal but leave all of the debris for the homeowner to 
deal with at their cost or tell the homeowner that the tree is far enough 
from an the overhead power line to be dealt with by a competent contractor 
(I even provide them with names of contractors) which again is all at 
their expense. I will also work with a customers contractor to provide an 
outage if the impact is practical but the cost of the contractor is the 
customers.

It's amazing how many tree "issues" disappear when the mitigation costs 
are not covered by the municipality, utility, neighbour or someone else.

I realize that this response is likely not what you expected and that it 
most likely would only work for someone in my position and perhaps not 
suitable for a Municipal Urban Forester who has to be more politically 
adept than I but it does work.

We remove or prune many more trees in the course of the year and get an 
unbelievable number of irrational requests for free tree service and this 
method has greatly reduced a large number of what the utility would have 
responded to rather than focusing on work that was actually beneficial. 
Quite frankly it greatly bothers me the great number of private trees get 
removed for irrational reasons when you look at the bigger picture outside 
of the municipally owned urban forest and this is my little way of trying 
to stem the tide.

Cheers

Mike Dixon R.P.F
MTCU Certified Utility Arborist
Forestry Coordinator
Thunder Bay Hydro
(807) 343-1040
(807 251-5774
MDixon at tbhydro.on.ca

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From:   "Hennessy, John" <John.Hennessy at brampton.ca>
To:     'Canadian Urban Forest Network' <canufnet at list.web.net>
Date:   03/04/2012 08:47 PM
Subject:        Re: [CANUFNET] defining nuisance trees

Hey Brad,

Can it be pruned to address concern? I  use this as middle ground when 
possible. Pruning can address some of the  concern, while information, and 
future intentions can also be used to help address. 
I would define a nuisance tree based on, given circumstances for a 
particular situation, as a “tree that has an undesired outcome”.   A 
nuisance tree, is a nuisance when we don’t have the right conversation at 
the right time. If you have a forestry master plan the answer is tucked 
inside somewhere! If you do not have one, this can be an opportunity to 
figure out a general direction your community wants to take with regards 
to weather trees are a nuisance, or just undervalued and misunderstood. If 
I one tree can be deemed a “nuisance” there is potential for them all to 
be called a nuisance in some consideration. 
An inspector would visit site, make a professional opinion addressing any 
potential urban forestry conflict. Anyone who disagrees would take issue 
up with mgt. team. The decision is usually rather arbitrary, based on a 
decibel level expressed by residents despite urban forestry efforts to 
educate. The tree should be protected, as there is no fee/tax to replace 
removed “nuisance”  trees. Hope there is something helpful in there for 
you.
John 

From: canufnet-bounces at list.web.net [mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net] 
On Behalf Of Brad Doff
Sent: 2012/03/30 1:05 PM
To: canufnet at list.web.net
Subject: [CANUFNET] defining nuisance trees

I'm looking for examples of what other municipalities consider a 'nuisance 
tree'. If you have a moment to send me a working or formal definition your 
municipality uses that would be helpful. 

Also how does your municipality process a nuisance tree request? If the 
tree does not pose a risk to people or property (hazard) how do you 
process these requests? Do you refuse the request (and remove the tree 
only if it's a hazard) or do you use another form of objective/subjective 
filter? If it is removed, based on a homeowner's request, is there a fee 
associated with the removal/replacement? 

Many thanks for any details you can provide.

Brad

-- 
Bradley Doff | brad at smartgreening.com
807.629.7626

SMARTGreening
www.smartgreening.ca
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