A dismayed homeowner learned just how much their tree was worth when they went looking for advice about a problematic neighbor.
On Reddit, the Californian said their neighbors cut branches off a large redwood in an act of revenge and then trespassed on their property to damage the tree further.
The beautiful tree met their city's requirements for a heritage designation since it was at least 35 feet tall.
"A neighborly dispute emerged when they tried to install an unpermitted balcony overlooking our backyard," the poster wrote. "We notified the city, they inspected it and shut down their construction project.
"A few weeks later - we leave for vacation and return to our 30 year old redwood tree receiving a hack job over the fence line. They went as far as to remove limbs that did not cross the fence line."
Users in r/treelaw suggested plenty of options for the poster, noting that the neighbor would be risking their home by further weakening the tree. That's because trees can be worth tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, and redwoods are especially beloved. Parks in the Golden State feature some of the largest, most iconic, and oldest iterations of the species.
"This redwood has been a cornerstone for my family," the poster said.
Trees are so valuable because they provide many benefits and help create others, from shade to water and food to transportation. Trees make neighborhoods seven to nine degrees cooler than those without trees; forests produce 55% of America's drinking water as well as fruit, nuts, and chocolate; and car tires come from the sap of rubber trees. The plants even help with ingredients used in toothpaste, shampoo, and shaving cream.
Keeping every last tree we can is especially important since the United States has lost 17% of its tree cover since 2000, according to Global Forest Watch. This and similar problems around the world are contributing to the rising global temperature, with 2.4 gigatonnes of heat-trapping carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere in 2023 because of forest loss — equivalent to half the country's annual pollution via dirty energy sources, the Forest Pulse reported.
At least redwoods are particularly resilient, as many commenters noted.
"You do have a neighbor problem, but the good news is the tree is going to survive this without even noticing," one said.
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