You don't really have ownership of your own land is the bottom line.
Assuming you’re in Cali... why not cut it down anyway?
But you can't chop them down without getting a permit and of course in some towns people fight this as it takes away from the "beauty" of the town. Tack on that the same trees crack roads and sidewalks and grow into pipes backing up sewers and storm drains. Which most insurance plans won't cover and good luck suing the city.
Of course, being alive and not burnt up by a fire is some consolation.
A family in Victoria was heavily fined because they cleared a firebreak around their property. They were dragged through the courts - treated like criminals.
Their house is now the only one standing in the area.
They were labelled law breakers, fined $50,000 and left emotionally and financially drained.
But seven years after the Sheahans bulldozed trees to make a fire break — an act that got them dragged before a magistrate and penalised — they feel vindicated. Their house is one of the few in Reedy Creek, Victoria, still standing.
...Although Liam Sheahan’s 2002 decision to disregard planning laws and bulldoze 250 trees on his hilltop property hurt his family financially and emotionally, he believes it helped save them and their home on the weekend. “The house is safe because we did all that,” he said as he pointed out his kitchen window to the clear ground where tall gum trees once cast a shadow on his house. “We have got proof right here. We are the only house standing in a two-kilometre area.”...Mr Sheahan is still angry about his prosecution, which cost him $100,000 in fines and legal fees.
“The council stood up in court and made us to look like the worst, wanton environmental vandals on the earth. We’ve got thousands of trees on our property. We cleared about 247,” he said.
In Montana there is legislation to mandate that homeowners in the outskirts cut down and maintain a fire zone around their houses... with potential fines for not doing so.
Pros and cons, especially if the GREEN factor is considered: plant trees to shade the house.
Darned if you or don’t.
Drive a one inch steel pipe a few feet down as proximate to the root of the tree as you can. Pull the pipe out and pour in some “Blue Root” into the hole. Repeat as necessary. The old oak tree will become good firewood which will displace many btu’s of foriegn oil or domestic gas.