The tree war—resurgam

The Austin Energy tree trashing moratorium is still in place, but that isn’t keeping them from from trying to chip away at it and weasel through loopholes.  The moratorium doesn’t cover “capital improvements” projects, and it’s just amazing how many of those there seem to be suddenly.

Three weeks ago I got a voicemail from someone saying he’s with Asplundh Tree Expert Company (local peasant opinion is that the “expert” part of their name is a black joke, given their documented history of slash-and-burn removals).  He wanted to talk with me about a project to replace the streetlamp pole on the southeast street corner opposite my house on the southwest corner.  I met with him a few days later, and found he wanted to cut back a hackberry on my east lot line (within the city’s easement, I believe) because the tree’s grown into the feed line for the street light.  He proposed a  two to three foot cutback.  That I don’t have a problem with; I don’t like the tree, it’s not in a good place, and eventually I’ll want to take it completely out.  However, then he got back on about wanting to go after my pecan and black walnut in the front yard and proposing 12-foot clearances away from the three-phase 68kV distribution line that runs across my north lot line as part of this same project.  This, as before, would mean removing half or more of each tree, leaving them mutilated, unbalanced, fragile, and liable to die.  I told him I wouldn’t agree to anything about them until (a) the moratorium is over and (b) the new guidelines are in place so (c) we all know what rules we’re playing by.  He took that as my answer for now, and went away again.  He wasn’t nasty about anything, but he did give me a bit of a stock “Good German” speech (i.e., “I’m only doing my job”).  I’ve heard no more since from them, although the Asplundherer said I could expect another proposed plan to come soon.  I have my copy of the May first work plan proposal, and my copy of the original work plan that Austin Energy and I talked about back in December, when this whole war started.  That one was pretty goddamn radical.  This one wasn’t that bad, but Lord, it wasn’t good.