Tree killers face big penalties

Published 3:38 am Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Dalton City Arborist Kris Thomas recalls a recent conversation with a man whom he cited for “girdling” a 90-year-old city-owned tree in front of his house.

Girdling involves stripping away or cutting through the bark around the tree. It keeps the tree from absorbing nutrients from its roots or sending sugars and carbohydrates back down to them. It will eventually kill a tree.

“He could not explain to me why he did it. He just said ‘I don’t like leaves,’” Thomas said.”I told him it doesn’t matter. This tree belongs to the city of Dalton, and we take it very seriously.”

Very seriously indeed. City ordinance says no one can prune, destroy, remove or poison any tree having its trunk on or upon public lands without written permit by the city arborist.

“These trees are very important. They provide shade. They filter the air. They provide homes for wildlife. And they help prevent stormwater runoff and soil erosion,” Thomas said.

 Those who violate the law face fines of up to $500 for each tree, and they will also have to reimburse the city if it has to remove any trees they damage, which can run into the thousands of dollars.

In the case of the tree that had been girdled, Thomas said that it will probably live another four or five years, so the city didn’t need to remove it now. But he said when they do need to remove it, they will seek to force the person who damaged it to pay for the removal.

“It’s no danger right now. We want to leave it in place as long as we can. No. 1, for the stormwater mitigation. No. 2, we want to leave it there as an example of what not to do,” he said.

But Thomas recalled a case from earlier this year where a man not only girdled a large tree in front of his home, he cut the buttress roots that support it.

“That made this tree lean towards his house. He actually endangered his home and his family,” he said.

Thomas cited the man, and Municpal Court fined him $300 and ordered him to compensate the city for the cost of removing the tree, which came to $7,500.

“We put a lien on his home until he settles that,” Thomas said.

Thomas said there are 4,723 trees on public right of way in Dalton. How do you know if that tree in front of your house is one of them?

“There’s a real easy rule of thumb to tell if a tree is on public right of way. Go to the water meter or look at the utility poles. They are usually on the inside of the city right of way,” he said.

So if the tree is as close to the street or closer to the street as the utilities, it’s a city-owned tree.

You can also tell by whether city crews prune the trees.

“We take care of these trees. We and Dalton Utilities work together to keep them pruned,” he said.

And if there’s any doubt, you can call Thomas at (706) 278-7077.