I have had this happen. I got a call from a neighbor to a property that I owned. He told me that he thought someone had cut down trees on my property. I had given the neighbor permission to hunt on the property for many years. Sure enough when I went to look, someone had cut about 2 acres of trees. Upon investigation, an abutting property owner had made a deal with a company to log his land, they just went way off the property. We eventually worked out a settlement.

Assigning a value to a tree must be a challenge. A tree must be worth more than the cost of the wood, right?

Another great post Bob. .thank you for educating me on a subject that I was clueless!

In our last home in Wisconsin we had many many trees planted around the perimeter then we hired a fence company.  It was done that way for lots of reasons.  The fence idiots cut limbs of the expensive spruce trees instead of roping them back.  Did you hear me scream at them?

Bob, I don't think people realize the value of a mature tree. Learning a lot about forestry from you. Thanks.

I would be less than thrilled to find out someone cut down one of my mature trees without my knowledge or approval. You bet I'd be calling my local forester!

Good post. We had one situation where the neighbor cut down trees in the owners lot.  It went to court and the settlement was huge.  Make sure you know who owns the tree before you cut it down.

Hey Bob...feature King you....I appreciate all your comments on my blogs....keep up the great work!

Great advice Bob. I'll be tucking that away for some future use I'm sure.

I am seeing that trees are a big business in some areas of the country.

Bob, a landscape with mature tree is worth lot more than just planting a few to sell homes.

And when it comes to damage done by construction crew, contacting a forester with experience is the right way to go.

Will go to you if ever need advise on tree prices. Good article.

You should move to Door County.  Road maintenance issues and tree cutting are HUGE here.  Hundreds of thousands of tax dollars are spent on the issue every year.

Bob...I like this recent sharing of the forest and its dynamics....Make sure you comment on Xmas Trees when appropriate too

Good idea! Getting an arborist to give you the needed information prior to any work being done near your property.

Bob, What great advice. Yes when we lived in Phoenix in the historic districts we were amazed at the value of the protected Palm Trees. They were worth in the many thousands of dollars. Expensive to replace.

     We just lost 2 huge Historic Oak Trees in downtown Tallahassee to "mistakes" by Builders.

     In one instance, on Gadsden Street, the Developer is a large Local Bank that owns huge chunks of Real Estate in Tallahassee.  They "apologized" and agreed to donate money to "the Tree Bank" to replant some new trees elsewhere.  The other instance, on Bronough Street, was a large national hotel chain; they paid the same bribe.   Not acceptable!

Bob, I will remember your advice on contacting a forester for questions and appraisal of trees. In 1983, the people across the street planted a tree which died the following year. They then planted a maple tree which turned out to be a beautiful tree. Last year (2012), it also died - almost 30 years old. It is missed. I sometimes wonder how and why that tree died? It is surrounded by many other maple trees that seem healthy and thriving. I am perhaps concerned because in 1983, we planted a maple tree and I sure would miss it. Could the extreme Chicago heat of last summer had something to do with the neighbor's maple tree dying?

Hi Bob, I am enjoying going through some of your early blog posts and reposts and getting ready to start doing some posts myself soon.