The world’s oldest oak has been spared from Southern California developers after a years-long battle to protect the land around the tree. Conservation groups fought the city of Jurupa Valley to protect the Jurupa Oak, an ancient Palmer’s oak, from a new development just 550 feet away, warning it could cause environmental harm. The Jurupa Oak is not known for its height, but rather its length. The shrub-looking oak covers nearly 80 feet of Jurupa Valley. Tribal groups and environmental organizations had called on the city to create a 100-acre buffer for the tree, but their demands were denied in the approval of the development. The development plans include around 1,700 homes, a business park and a school, according to SFGate, which first reported on the community’s battle…
As Bon Jovi sings in their 1987 hit – “wanted, dead or alive.” Ohio is taking inspiration from the Wild West (or the hair metal band) in its fight against invasive species. On Monday, May 18, the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves, part of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, is launching a new series to fight invasive species in Ohio. The agency recently shared on Facebook a Wild West-style wanted poster – including the phrase “dead or alive” – for the top 10 invasive plants in the state. The reward? Native plant communities. “Invasive plants often outcompete our native plant communities and provide little to no nutrition for wildlife, especially when compared to Ohio’s native plant alternatives,” the ODNR division writes…
To the untrained eye, the tree-of-heaven is just another part of Denver’s canopy, providing shade and greenery in the city’s vast urban landscape. But to Mike Miller and his posse, it is an enemy they have come to know intimately. “I watch movies and I can pick them out on studio sets,” Miller said. The tree-of-heaven — or Ailanthus altissima — is a “perennial, relatively short-lived deciduous tree, originally from China”, according to the Colorado Department of Agriculture. The tree was reportedly first brought to the United States by a man in Philadelphia in the 1780s to supplement his garden. It can grow up to 70 feet tall in a variety of environments and withstand extreme heat, drought and more. Today, thousands have been reported in the metro area. They might seem rather pretty. But it is also a species on the Colorado Noxious Weed list. And noxious it is…
Youngstown, Ohio, WKBN-TV, May 13, 2026: Poland residents express concerns about tree business
Residents in Poland expressed concerns at a township meeting Wednesday evening about a tree business on Struthers Road they say is becoming a big problem. Neighbors say the operation is creating noise, traffic and environmental concerns and is impacting their quality of life. “Not only is this extremely loud, but the dust cloud created from the poorly maintained lane covers our field porch. My wife and I can no longer hold outside gatherings because of this noise and dust,” one resident said. “We are standing here as a united front. We’re dealing with the constant disturbance of heavy traffic equipment, large diesel trucks and multiple vehicles coming in and out every hour of the day,” another resident said…
Anita and Ron Delph were looking out their window recently at the familiar sight of a robust tree canopy that lines just about every street in this picturesque college town. Then came the chainsaws. The couple watched as a contractor for the local utility company methodically lopped off big sections of the beech outside their home. By the time they were done, the timber that remained looked distinctively shrublike. In an online post, Anita called it a “massacre.” “Who would want to buy a house when they had to look at that out their front door?” Ron said. The Delphs are among many Ann Arbor residents who say they are witnessing a defacement of the local landscape. Tree trimmers for DTE Energy have been driving around cutting limbs that appear to be closing in on power lines as part of a long-term effort to reduce outages. The result has been an affront to many in Tree Town, as Ann Arbor is affectionately known, leaving many trees looking more like something out of Dr. Seuss…
On Sunday, May 17, in celebration of Arbor Day, the Rockland Tree Board will host a tree planting at MacDougal Park. The family-friendly event will take place at 1 p.m., when participants will be invited to help plant a Yellow Birch sapling. “Across the country, Arbor Day is celebrated to recognize the value of trees in our communities,” said a City of Rockland news release. “In backyards and across the City, trees provide needed shade, habitat for an incredible array of insects and birds, help clean and cool the air, and are a beautiful addition to our community…”
Mother Jones, May 13, 2026: The Solution to Urban Heat Is Actually Amazingly Simple
Johnny Appleseed was ahead of his time. Not because he fed so many people by planting apple trees (really, he got them drunk instead, as his real goal was encouraging the production of cider) but because he created so much shade to enjoy on hot days. More than two centuries later, American cities are wishing they had better followed Appleseed’s lead, as rising temperatures and a lack of tree cover combine to make urban life increasingly stifling. Two new studies show how simply planting more trees can provide huge temperature benefits, not to mention how the additional plant life would boost biodiversity and improve mental health for urbanites. The first finds that tree cover can cancel half of the heat island effect, in which the urban jungle gets much hotter than the surrounding countryside. The second compares neighborhoods in 65 American cities, finding that canopy-deprived areas suffer up to 40 percent more excess heat than heavily greened spots…
Washington, D.C., HillRag, May 13, 2026: A Growing Effort to Expand DC’s Tree Canopy
Casey Trees and organizers of the upcoming Anacostia River Festival plan to give away 250 saplings to attendees at the festival Saturday, May 16 in Anacostia Park, part of a broader effort to expand DC’s tree canopy through partnerships with residents, community groups and the National Park Service. The festival, scheduled from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., is organized by Building Bridges Across the River (BBAR) and the National Park Service (NPS). Attendees will receive 2-gallon redbuds, Cercis canadensis, small enough to carry home. The trees are intended to extend the canopy beyond parks and into private yards and community spaces across the region, into private yards and community spaces across the region, said Casey Trees Chief Operating Officer Robert Shaut. “[They’re edible flowers — [the] pea family,” Shaut said. “My mom used to make redbud jam.” If all 250 trees are planted, a new forest could spring up throughout the District in the next few years. But it is not Casey Trees only collaboration with the organizers. Redbuds will line the path near the new amphitheater in the green space on the east side of the 11th Street Bridge Park Project. “We’ll have 250 trees in the park and 250 trees outside the park,” said Scott Kratz. “That’s just super exciting.” Kratz is President and CEO of BBAR and founder of the 11th Street Bridge Park Project. “Imagine the explosion of fall foliage on the bridge…”
On a crisp spring morning, Peter LoVerso and CJ Johnson were deep in the Crooked River National Grassland near Madras. They stood squinting into the sunlight, across a barbed wire fence from rows of squat, gnarled trees. LoVerso reached up, grabbed a low-hanging limb and hoisted himself over the fence’s metal spikes. “A fun fact about Peter,” Johnson said. “He’s also a trapeze artist.” On this day, though, LoVerso was primarily a tree detective. He and Johnson were searching for a handful of tagged apple trees in the more than century-old orchard. “This guy looks great,” LoVerso, 34, said of one tree, as he picked leaves off a branch and placed them in a plastic bag. “It’s not going to hurt the tree, and better to have too many than too few.” The leaves will be sent to a lab at Washington State University for DNA testing to see what kind of tree it is and where it came from…
The Washington State Court of Appeals denied a motion Thursday to reconsider a case involving the city of Edmonds’ tree regulations, holding its ruling that the city does not have to pay damages to a resident. In March, the court dismissed the case as moot, saying it could no longer provide effective relief to the city or to resident Nathan Rimmer. In 2022, Rimmer submitted a permit to build a single-family home on a vacant lot in Edmonds. His building plans required him to remove a dogwood tree. Before the city could issue a decision on the permit, staff required Rimmer to make plans to replace the tree and dedicate a piece of land to plant two more trees in its place. In 2023, Rimmer sued the city, alleging the requirement was unconstitutional. In January 2024, a judge ruled the mandate unconstitutional and in December found the city responsible for financial damages accrued during the case. The judge ordered the city to approve Rimmer’s permit, which the city appealed. The question of whether the city would have to pay damages was set to be decided after the appeal, according to the December 2024 court order…
Deep in the wilderness of Montana’s Bitterroot Mountains, Josh Beisel and his team of field technicians heft 60-pound packs across rough terrain. Alongside their sleeping bags and dehydrated meals, they carry poster tubes full of tree cores – small cylinders of wood collected from the trunks of high-elevation trees, including one of the West’s most imperiled species: the whitebark pine. Whitebark pine trees (Pinus albicaulis) are some of the only trees that can grow at Montana’s highest elevations. They provide food for grizzly bears and habitat for birds like Clark’s nutcrackers. They stabilize the snowpack by acting like a fence that holds snow on steep slopes. The shade they provide keeps snow from melting too quickly and reduces the risk of spring floods. But whitebark pine trees are in danger. Their populations are in decline due to several different stressors, including climate change, pine beetle outbreaks and an invasive fungus known as white pine blister rust. Now a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Montana, Beisel has spent his early career learning more about this unique species to inform conservation efforts…
Tree and Neighbor Law For Homeowners and Professionals 