I am a city forester in central Tennessee. I am the first and creating a new department. This county has over 500 tree nurseries and they all want seeds or cutting from city trees. In the past this was allowed until tree damage, leaving a mess, and someone suing the city brought it all to a halt. People would break branches, top trees to stimulate new growth, they even caught someone bumping a tree with the truck.
Well now they are pushing hard to let this start up again and want me to convince the city.
My question is... Is this worth the hassle? Can I find a good release form? What about just allowing seed picking on certain days so I can watch? Any ideas, comments, whatever would be appreciated. Thank You

Reply to post by Nick Kuhn, on April 17, 2001 at 19:12:01:

>>What about just allowing seed picking on
>>certain days so I can watch?

Get an ordance passed that it can be performed by permit only;
1 per occurance
2 speciffic trees noted on the permit
3 under the direct supervission of a certified arborist
4 using ANSI approved pruning techniques and safety precautions
5 removeng no more then X% of any portion of the tree
6 removing branches nolarger than .N inches in diamiter
7 local law enforcment shall be notified the day prior to with time and duration.
8 fees should cover the cost of law enforcment officers and/or forrestry personel
spot checking the harvest and any procssesing envolved.

Notification of police is nessesary because they are tha first ones to be called by concerned citizens.

If it is allowed, then it must be regulated and codified. If they complain about the codes, they screwed it up the first time, now you've gotto make sure they are proffesional in their conduct.

If they complain about the cost, it is a users fee for public property/services. One pays for a parks pass.