Cleveland, Ohio, Plain Dealer, May 31, 2023: Tree falls, kills golfer sitting in cart on Ohio course
A 35-year-old man was killed Saturday when a tree fell on his cart as he was playing a round of golf at a course in Mahoning County. WKBN Channel 27 reports Brian Costantini, of Boardman, was in the cart with his brother-in-law, Jordan Hardwick, 35, on the 17th hole at Mill Creek Golf Course at about 9 a.m. when the tree fell. Hardwick was able to get out of the cart unassisted, but Costantini was pronounced dead at the scene, WFMJ Channel 21 reports. It took rescuers several hours to remove the tree, which was estimated to be between 80 and 100 feet tall, reports say. The trunk of the tree was about 3 feet thick. Boardman Assistant Fire Chief Rob John tells WKBN he estimates the tree weighed about 20,000 pounds. “We had to cut all the limbs off the tree to get it down to a trunk — a manageable size that that large loader could even lift that trunk of the tree,” John tells WKBN. Authorities say the tree appeared to be in good health and did not show any signs of rot…
T&D World, May 16, 2023: The Past and Future of Safety in UVM
The science of safety has changed much since the early 1900s, and yet, we still see some of the old practices used in our profession. What started with Frederick Taylor’s The Principles of Scientific Management was somewhat furthered by the work of Herbert Heinrich’s classic work in 1931, Industrial Accident Prevention: A Scientific Approach, which drove most of the safety world for the greater part of a century. Although “Taylorism” brought forth some good ideas from the production aspect of work, it created or at least strengthened, the divide between the worker and management. An extreme simplification of the Taylor view was that the worker wasn’t smart enough and, therefore, should play no role in the planning of the work. Heinrich’s work added to this by, in essence, blaming workers for their “behavior” and creating an oversimplification of the relationship between behaviors and outcomes. This led to the graphic of the safety pyramid, or triangle, which attempted to explain the relationship between behaviors, low-severity, and high-severity incidents. The fundamental flaw with the safety pyramid concept is that it assumes that the same underlying behaviors cause low-, medium- and high-severity injuries or fatalities. This faulty thinking led to a connection between the severity of incidents; that is, the more lower severity incidents occurred, the greater likelihood of a severe one or fatality. The data just didn’t support this connection…
Redding, California, Record Searchlight, June 1, 2023: How to protect your cherry, other fruit trees from hungry birds while keeping them safe
Q: What sort of netting can I use on a cherry tree that will prevent birds from eating the cherries, and also doesn’t snag birds? Also, will ground squirrels chew up the netting?
A: Your concerns about netting trapping birds are warranted as most of the bird netting sold for use in the home orchard traps birds and other wildlife. Because of the number of animals trapped in bird netting, some locations in Australia have banned various types of agriculture nettings to prevent harm to wildlife, including birds, lizards, snakes, and bats. The black plastic netting most commonly sold as bird nettings seems to be the worst one for trapping wildlife. Two types of netting are suggested to prevent the entanglement of birds: Relatively stiff netting (think screen material) or flexible material with very small openings…
People Magazine, June 1, 2023: Calif. Woman Has ‘No Feeling from the Chest Down’ After Being Struck by Tree Limb on Vacation
A California nursing director will soon be returning to the United States after she was hospitalized following a freak accident on vacation. Deanne Niedziela was on vacation in Costa Rica with her husband on Sunday when she was “struck by a falling tree limb” during a waterfall hike, according to a GoFundMe campaign. The couple was touring La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park at the time, according to ABC affiliate KABC-TV. “This thing came slamming to the ground,” the Orange County man told the outlet. “And I looked over and saw Deanne laying on the ground.” Deanne “suffered a nearly fatal spinal cord injury,” according to the GoFundMe page. After being hospitalized, she underwent nine hours of surgery on Monday, per KABC-TV…
Lansing, Michigan, MLive, May 31, 2023: Historic derecho was 25 years ago today: Its 130 mph winds snapped trees and collapsed homes
It was 25 years ago today that a historic derecho raced across Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, leaving a path of destruction and killing four people. Michiganders woke on Sunday, May 31, 1998, to find snapped trees, downed power lines and even collapsed buildings in some of the hardest-hit areas, according to National Weather Service records. The wreckage spanned hundreds of miles. In addition to the four deaths, 146 people were injured. In addition to the four deaths, 146 people were injured. The squall line of thunderstorms, also known as a derecho, had an average speed of 70 mph with a wall of winds between 60 and 130 mph, NWS said. It first touched Michigan at 4:45 a.m. and had crossed the peninsula by 8 a.m. Five tornadoes developed in Northern lower Michigan. The storm began in South Dakota and continued to New York, but “of all the regions affected by the derecho, the greatest damage and the greatest number of casualties occurred in Lower Michigan,” NWS said…
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, The Oakridger, May 30, 2023: Property owners beware: Vines are killing your trees
In Oak Ridge, trees are being strangled, suffocated and swallowed by vines. Kudzu. Virginia creeper. Poison ivy vines. Grapevines. Trumpet vines. Wisteria vines. English ivy vines in wooded yards. “Vines are climbers,” said Chuck Coutant, a biologist who co-wrote with Bob Compton an article on the problem published on the front page of the May newsletter for the Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning (TCWP). He explained that most vines climb trees to get closer to the canopy where they can soak up more sunlight. He added that vines reaching the tops of trees may suffocate their hosts by covering their leaves and preventing photosynthesis. This vital process enables trees to make carbohydrates that travel throughout the tree and to the roots, nourishing them and causing them to grow. Wisteria vines can circle and strangle a tree trunk, keeping it from expanding…
Phys.org, May 31, 2023: Short-lived solutions for tall trees in Chile’s megadrought
For more than a decade, forests across much of Chile have been experiencing a megadrought, its effects overprinted on an already warming and drying climate. High in the Andes, stands of giant Nothofagus obliqua trees, also known as roble or southern beech, are stretching themselves to survive—and bucking a global forest trend. Many trees have experienced decreased growth rates, but some Chilean beeches, which can grow to heights of 40 meters (131 feet), have not. However, researchers report in a new study, not all stands stand equal chances of success in coping with the climate. Urrutia-Jalabert et al. studied five stands of N. obliqua across a 500-kilometer-long section of the Chilean Andes that spans both Mediterranean and temperate climates. The researchers analyzed carbon and oxygen isotopes in the trees as well as the widths of tree rings dating from 1967 to 2017. These indicators reflect the amount and source of precipitation a tree has received, and together they can reveal how a tree has survived…
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, KELO-TV, May 31, 2023: What tree should I plant in Sioux Falls?
Surrounded by trees older than 100 years and trees as new as this spring, Bryan Peterson wondered what Sioux Falls could look like if the rest of the city modeled tree planting after McKennan Park. Peterson, the city’s urban forestry specialist, was armed with an iPad full of data regarding all the trees planted in the more than 80 different city parks. He highlighted how McKennan Park has always had a diversity of trees and five years after the Emerald Ash Borer was first confirmed in northern Sioux Falls, the park does not have a single ash tree. “Looking around the park and visiting the park, you can hardly tell the difference,” Peterson told KELOLAND News. “There are certainly a few stump sites. For residents in the neighborhood, I’m sure you know where there were ash trees and where there were not…”
Houston, Texas, Chronicle, May 30, 2023; My neighbor’s tree is hanging over my property, what can I do?
Q: My house is next door to an empty lot owned by a contractor. There is a tall tree near the property line that leans toward my property and house, with the larger branches actually over my property. I have asked the owner to trim the tree, but they have refused to do so. Although the tree is healthy, I worry that it might fall over in bad weather and destroy my home and possibly hurt me. What can I do?
A: The contractor who owns the lot next door has no duty to trim a healthy tree. If you want the branches to be trimmed, you will need to pay someone to do that work for you. The branches can be trimmed up to the property line. You should be sure the company you hire does not kill the tree because you could possibly be held liable…
Axios, May 30, 2023: Why Chicago’s shrinking tree canopy hurts communities
Why it matters: Urban tree canopy improves air quality by removing harmful gasses from the air and storing CO2, according to a recent report from environmental information newsroom Climate Central. It also absorbs stormwater, decreases flood risk and creates connections to nature that improve physical and mental health. By the numbers: Chicago’s tree canopy cover shrank in the city proper from 2010 to 2020. Trees covered just 16% of the city’s land in 2020, trailing behind New York and Los Angeles, per the Morton Arboretum. While canopy cover decreased, the tree population in the greater Chicago area grew from 157 million in 2010 to 172 million, according to the arboretum. State of play: On average, each year Chicago has lost about 10,000 more trees than it has planted since 2010, per a 2020 analysis by the Sun-Times. The decrease was mostly driven by pests and disease. To combat the losses, former Mayor Lori Lightfoot pledged last year to plant 15,000 new trees annually. But her rush to get it done in cold, non-ideal planting weather last December left some worrying the execution would stifle root growth…
The Atlantic, May 30, 2023: The Trees Don’t Care About Us
Silent observers of our lives, trees are on most peoples’ radar only at moments of transition or death: We mark springtime’s budding and autumn’s flamboyance; note somberly the tree felled by a storm or by the tiny, ravenous ash borer. Although emblematic of nature, they nonetheless are seen with the goggles of our human-centered vision, and thus barely seen at all. With a rush of popular fiction and nonfiction on the sociality of trees, we are starting to recognize the extent of what we’re missing. Whether the simplest details—the plain fact of their presence more below ground than above it—or the awareness of their constant inter-arboreal communications, trees have officially entered our contemporary awareness as more than just a background to our human dramas…
Charlotte, North Carolina, Observer, May 26, 2023: More than Bradford Pears: These are invasive trees to watch out for in your NC yard
Bradford Pear trees may have a lock on publicity among invasive plants, with their stinky blooms drawing attention annually, but there are other problematic trees found in North Carolina too, wildlife experts say. In addition to being a nuisance to gardeners and homeowners, invasive trees can also damage ecosystems and pose health risks. But there are also steps you can take to clear your space and help control the spread if you spot an invasive tree on your property. Here’s what to know about invasive trees found in North Carolina and what to do about them: What is an invasive species? Invasive species are defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as “plants, animals, and other living organisms” that are introduced to ecosystems where they are “non-native” or “alien,” which “causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.” In addition to the Bradford Pear, there are other invasive trees that threaten North Carolina, the state Forest Service says, including: Tree of Heaven, AKA Ailanthus altissima: Native to China, this tree has “aggressively naturalized in many parts of the USA and all areas of North Carolina,” the NC State Extension says. “The leaves are the best way to identify this tree as the large compound leaves have a glandular, notched base on each leaflet and the serrations or tooths on the margin appear toward the base of the leaf,” per the extension…”
Phys.org, May 29, 2023: What happens when conflicting priorities collide and potentially compromise trees, woodland and forests?
