A judge halted the chainsaws after 430 trees fell in D.C.

Two deaths and a severe limb strike this week, all on roadside and line-clearance work. A federal judge also put the brakes on a tree job in Washington after 430 trees came down in a single day. And Minnesota pushed $7 million out the door for urban trees.

The big one

At least 430 trees were cut at East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C., on October 10. The National Park Service plan calls for removing as many as 529 (NPR). A federal judge extended a temporary halt through October 26 and ordered advance notice before any more irreversible work. The job is frozen for now.

The Park Service calls it historic-landscape restoration, returning the course to an earlier design. Preservation groups say mature, healthy oaks and maples were among the trees dropped. Both sides have a point, which is exactly why this one got ugly fast. A healthy tree and a tree that doesn't belong in a 1920s landscape plan can be the same tree.

The Tree Care Industry Association put out an advocacy piece on October 16 responding to the national attention (TCIA). TCIA's angle is that the public now watches tree removals closely, and the crews doing the cutting are professionals following a plan, not vandals with saws. That's the lesson here for anyone running a removal contract on public land. When 430 trees come down at once, somebody is going to film it, and the permit paperwork had better match the stumps.

The canopy

A VA contract spells out ISA and CTSP, in writing

The Tomah VA Medical Center in Wisconsin posted a tree-care solicitation on October 14. The work includes removing up to 18 dead or hazardous trees, grinding stumps six inches below grade, planting up to 65 replacements and a five-year management plan. All of it must be done by ISA Certified Arborists under a Certified Tree Care Safety Professional. Bids close October 30 (CLEATUS). If your shop holds those credentials, federal work increasingly wants them named in the bid.

An unpaid "tryout" still counts as employment

A workers' comp case covered October 19 involved a timber cutter hurt during an employment tryout. The employer had refused to pay and contested coverage, arguing there was no formal hire. The decision treated him as an employee anyway, because he was doing the work of the employer's timber business (Tree and Neighbor Law Blog). The handshake tryout where a guy runs a saw for you to "see if he's any good" is still employment. If he gets hurt, you own it.

OSHA's citation tally, and Region 2 still has tree work in its sights

An October 16 enforcement summary counted the past 12 months of OSHA citations: 5,831 under construction fall-protection rules, 2,566 under ladder rules and 6,559 under hazard communication (Black Belt Safety). None were tree-care specific. A separate compliance note on October 15 reminded readers that OSHA Region 2 still runs a regional emphasis program aimed at tree trimming, removal and land clearing across New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (J. J. Keller). If you work those states, planned inspections are part of the territory.

Seattle City Light wants to audit circuits for tree hazards

Seattle City Light plans to audit urban residential circuits for vegetation hazards, then do targeted trimming and plant line-compatible trees under city ordinance. The Department of Energy posted the environmental review on October 13 (U.S. DOE). More utility line-clearance work coming to the Puget Sound region.

Safety report

A worker died and another was hospitalized on October 14 in Houston's Acres Homes neighborhood after a bucket truck contacted power lines hidden in trees on Observatory Street. The crew was working on AT&T lines, and the Houston Fire Department said the bucket struck the lines as it was raised into the canopy. Three workers were on site (Click2Houston). The lines were concealed by the trees. That is the exact scenario minimum approach distance rules exist for, and the exact reason you look up before the boom goes up.

Evaristo Bernabe Sanches died on October 11 trimming a eucalyptus near Horton Road in Bonita, San Diego County. A coworker said a branch fell and pushed Sanches down, wrapping his safety rope around him about 35 to 40 feet up. Sheriff's investigators said the branch caused the entanglement, and they are looking at whether weather from Tropical Storm Rachel played a part. Cal/OSHA was notified (NBC 7 San Diego).

In Hall County, Georgia, a Department of Transportation worker was severely hurt on October 13 during roadway tree clearing when a limb fell roughly 40 feet and struck him. He had broken leg, ankle, back and neck injuries and went to intensive care at Northeast Georgia Health System, with multiple surgeries expected (FOX 5 Atlanta).

Pest and disease watch

Portland, Oregon, lifted its seasonal pruning moratoriums. The ash restriction ended September 30 and the elm restriction October 15. Purple traps at more than a dozen sites found no further emerald ash borer expansion within the city, though the beetle keeps spreading regionally (City of Portland).

Vermont found EAB this fall in Essex County, the last county in the state without a confirmed detection. The beetle arrived in Vermont in 2018 and now has the whole state. Officials are also asking residents to check vehicles and skip out-of-state firewood after spotted lanternfly reports, though no established population has turned up yet (Bennington Banner).

Minnesota's DNR awarded $7 million in ReLeaf grants to 50 communities, including cities, counties, schools, nonprofits and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. The money funds inventories, planting, pruning and wood utilization, with many recipients replacing ash lost to EAB with more diverse species (Minnesota DNR).

Species spotlight

Downy serviceberry is a small eastern native, 15 to 25 feet tall and about as wide, often grown multi-stem with smooth gray bark. The wood is very hard, heavy and close-grained on a small frame, so you rarely rig it. You just drop and clean up. It runs from Maine to Florida and west to the Great Plains, happy in full sun to part shade on moist, well-drained acidic soil, though it hates drought.

It earns its keep four seasons a year: early white flowers, sweet June fruit the birds strip fast, good fall color. The name shadbush comes from blooming when the shad run. Being in the rose family, it gets the family's troubles, mainly fire blight and apple scab. Prune after it flowers in late spring.

One for the lunch break

Nearly 100 arborists from 22 countries climbed pine, sweetgum and oak in a St. Louis park on October 10 for the International Tree Climbing Championship, running three days across aerial rescue, ascent, work climb and throwline (The Alpena News). This year was the event's 50th. Fifty years of grown adults racing up trees for sport, and the throwline still humbles everybody.

Stay safe out there,

The TreeNerd crew

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• Climbing Arborist · Klätterapan AB · Täby, Stockholm, Sweden · Based on experience

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