Homeowner distraught after stepping outside to find neighbor's destructive act: 'What should we do?'

A Redditor encountered a challenging situation with a neighbor and sought advice from the community at r/treelaw. 

The original poster had a mature tree with branches overhanging their neighbor's property. One day, the local electrical company took to cutting the limbs going over the other property, but they ended up doing a lot more than the original poster was expecting. 

"To my complete shock, I discovered that the back was covered in large tree limbs from trees that extended over the fence and well beyond seven yards into our property. I have videos of my yard before and after the tree cutting, showing the living limbs that were removed," wrote the original poster. "What should we do, and what can we do?"

Compounding this situation is that the poster was quite attached to the wildlife attracted to the tree, namely a barred owl that had made its home there. 

Besides aesthetic bonuses and homes for local wildlife, mature trees offer loads of benefits to homeowners and their neighbors. The wide shade cast from the canopy, combined with transpiration, helps to keep the area cool and combat urban heat island effects. Deep root systems can mitigate surface flooding conditions by channeling water into the soil and combat erosion. 

Mature trees are also helpful in sequestering carbon and improving local air quality. 

The Reddit community had a wealth of advice for the original poster trying to figure out what to do about their maimed tree. Unfortunately, utilities maintain a lot of authority when it comes to these kinds of operations.  

"If the power company did it then I am guessing you are out of luck. They did the same to me and basically was told I had no legal recourse because they have an easement of like 10 ft between line and tree," wrote one commenter. 

"By and large, the utility has a heap of discretion when it comes to trimming trees," replied another. "Most of the regulations deal protecting the lines and preventing the tree from growing back into the lines too quickly. The emphasis is very much power line safety/reliability over tree preservation."

What's the hardest thing about taking care of your yard? Mowing the lawn 🏡 Controlling weeds 🌿 Keeping pests at bay 🐿️ I don't have a yard 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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