While it's understandable for someone to desire a better view from their home, destroying property on government-owned land to achieve it is usually a bad idea.
However, a Connecticut couple is accused of doing just that in order to get a clearer sight of the nearby lakefront.
As CT Insider reported, Alan and Teresa Salzman of Southbury, Connecticut, could pay up to $7.5 million in damages if they are found liable for the removal of 134 trees along Lake Lillinonah and the Shepaug River.
The town of Southbury filed a lawsuit against the Salzmans, claiming the couple knowingly cut down the trees on land owned by the town and state. It's said the couple hired a pair of contractors to remove a mixture of red oak, black oak, white oak, hickory, and sugar maple trees.
The lawsuit also accuses the couple of unlawful encroachment to open space land, trespassing on land, and two counts of unlawful cutting or removal of trees and shrubbery.
However, the amount of trees that were cut down was out of their control, says Alan Salzman. At a June 7, 2018, Southbury Board of Selectmen meeting, Salzman said that he had been approached by a pair of men in a van who were in search of work in the surrounding area.
Salzman revealed that the two men were then paid around $300 or $400 to cut down a small collection of trees on the couple's property. According to Salzman, the scope of the job snowballed out of control when he was unable to supervise the work.
"I didn't direct them," Salzman told the Southbury Board of Selectmen. "I didn't do it myself. I didn't want it done, but I am responsible."
Despite Alan Salzman's recollection of events, Southbury officials allege that he was the one who approached the workers.
Throughout the world, billions of trees are cut down each year, including trees that are illegally removed. The mass removal of trees can cause habitat loss, soil erosion, and the diminished absorption of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, per the USDA.
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