I think it's safe to assume that the vast majority of Madisonians like trees. I think it's also safe to assume that most of us know next to nothing about their care and feeding; hell, we probably don't know half the species that call Madison home, so it would probably be a good thing to have some kind of protective oversight for our leafy neighbors. Maybe an ordinance of some kind is necessary, but please, let's try to be intelligent about it. Least government is best government here. A tree ordinance should make it difficult for a developer to arbitrarily level a plot of land, but it should not automatically pit that developer against the ghost of Joyce Kilmer. Individual home owners should be held to a different standard, one that upholds their authority over THEIR land and minimizes governmental intrusion on that authority.
Let me say that simpler: If homeowners want to cut down a tree or trees on their property, they should have to notify the town. If the town want to save the tree, well? Let the friendly negotiations begin, but the only trump card the town should hold would be if that tree were imminently endangered and irreplacable; even then the owner should have wiggle room. Maybe the town contracts to periodically prune the tree, or aid in its preservation and upkeep. We just shouldn't be able to arbitrarily save a tree on someone's private property just because we happen to like it.
(You know, the more one writes about this subject, the more this ordinance seems like a bad idea. So I take back everything I said so far. Can cooler heads prevail here? As my sainted grandfather would say, "What's the worst thing that could happen?" Left without an ordinance, will Madison become a macadam parking lot? Very doubtful. Without any oversight, trees appear to have a permanent home in the Rose City. One thing's for certain, though: with an ordinance, the only people who will be happy will be the creators of the ordinance.)
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