A town’s huge, old trees are landmarks, seeming as permanent as the hills. But trees are mortal, and when a large tree dies, it becomes a problem for those who live or travel near it.
At the April 12 selectmen’s meeting, Peter Warren of Lancaster County Road gave a vivid example of the hazards posed by dead trees. Warren said a neighbor had alerted him to a dead tree leaning over Gebo Lane. Warren described it as leaning steeply when he first saw it. Then he went about his chores. A little later, as he drove homeward, he said, the tree came down and landed across the road.
Warren diverted other cars from Gebo Lane and called the Department of Public Works. The highway crew arrived quickly and cleared the fallen tree off the road. Afterward, Warren said, DPW Director Rich Nota showed him a folder with 20 or 30 photos of dead trees around town that he considered problems. But, Nota told Warren, the DPW is barred by law from cutting down those trees except with a permit from the tree warden and a public hearing. Warren said Nota had reported several problematic trees to Tree Warden Christian Bilodeau and had received no response.
Referring to news reports of recent fatalities in other towns from trees falling on cars, Warren said, “I think this town is very much in trouble if they don’t step up to the plate and do something about the dead trees along the roadways. … It’s a very serious situation.”
Board of Selectmen Chairman Ron Ricci suggested that Town Administrator Tim Bragan work with Nota and Town Counsel Mark Lanza to find a way to “work off the backlog of dead trees.”
State law limits action
In a later interview, Nota explained that the main problem is not Harvard’s scenic road bylaw, but the state’s public shade tree law (Mass. General Laws Chapter 87), which applies to any roadside tree with a trunk diameter larger than 1.5 inches. That law was passed in 1913 and gave enforcement powers to local tree wardens. Under its terms, only the tree warden or his deputy can cut down public shade trees, and then only after a public hearing.
However, the law does allow for “the trimming, cutting or removal of any tree which endangers persons traveling on a highway.” The law also stipulates that only the tree warden can clear brush and saplings along the road, although the DPW regularly does that task on its own in Harvard.
Few changes have been made to the shade tree act since it was originally passed. The website for the Massachusetts Association of Tree Wardens and Foresters recommends several changes for bringing the law up to date. One is redefining a shade tree as having a trunk diameter of 4 inches, not 1.5 inches as under the present law. Another update is to cover damage to a tree by a vehicle, as well as by a horse.
A bill to amend the shade tree law came before the Legislature in January 2015 and has been in the House Committee on Ways and Means since last September. Bill 1840 includes many proposed updates to the public shade tree law, including eliminating the need for a public hearing before removing a tree.
The selectmen expressed their intention of taking up the issue at their May 3 meeting, perhaps with advice from town counsel. As Selectman Ken Swanton asked rather incredulously at the April 12 meeting, “How much shade does a dead tree give?”
But Bragan responded, “The shade tree law does not distinguish between live and dead.”
In contrast, Harvard’s scenic road bylaw protects only living trees. It expressly states that “dead whole trees” can be cut or removed as part of routine or emergency maintenance.
