A Redditor who posted in r/arborists about a disheartening experience with new neighbors was met with surprisingly calm advice.
"The wooded lot next to me was recently purchased and they immediately started cutting small trees down around the lot with their chainsaw," the poster wrote. "I went to introduce myself after work and noticed that they had cut 20 of my trees down (approx 1" to 6" in diameter). After discussing with them the location of the Iron Pin that was marked with PVC pipe they told me it was wrong. I have the survey to prove it. Their only defense is 'their realtor told them so.'"
This was a natural area and not a cultivated plot, but the Redditor was justifiably "still angry about it." Similar and worse cases of trespassing and mature tree destruction caused upward of $100,000 in damages.
Commenters advised a restrained approach.
A lawyer said: "It's always easier to start quietly and raise the volume later; it's much more difficult to start loud and lower the volume later on."
They went on to describe interpersonal conflict as "one of the worst things for mental health" and said the trees will be replaced or forgotten, but an ongoing grudge could wreck their personal happiness.
"Thats super frustrating...but they're your neighbors. I'd try to take some time to talk with them, understand what the hell they were thinking, explain yourself, and give them a chance to make it right," someone else echoed.
They added: "Maybe they can buy you some native shrubs or understory trees to plant where they cut stuff that wasn't theirs? Or maybe they'll help chip in on a fence to help delineate property line, I dunno. Worth at least talking and asking before taking any legal action or anything along those lines."
Trees are natural air purifiers. They suck carbon out of the atmosphere, provide shade, help insulate homes, and even reduce temperatures underneath their canopies by as much as 45 degrees Fahrenheit.
The warming of Earth is intensifying rainfall and droughts, changing oceans, and amplifying permafrost thawing, but planting trees is our best defense, according to Natural Habitat Adventures. A worldwide effort could help sequester two-thirds of the 300 billion tons of carbon that have been released into the atmosphere by humans since the Industrial Revolution.
But even small efforts — down to planting one tree — can help reduce problems such as the urban heat island effect.
If we take care to respect and protect the environment, it can lead to a cleaner future for all.
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