by Lorrie Stromme
Download PDF overviews for each topic:
Tree Law Cover Sheet
Damage Done to Trees: Consequences and Compensation
Get My Drift: Legal Aspects of Pesticide Drift
Hazard Trees and Limbs on Private Property
Hazard Trees and Limbs on Public Property and Governmental Immunity
Nuisance Trees: Encroaching Branches and Tree Roots
Insurance Coverage and Damage Caused by Trees
Tree-trimming and Utility Companies
Knowing Too Much: Issues about an Arborist’s Liability
is it legal to burn elm trees? if not, how do you get rid of them?
Hi Kristin. Taking down and chipping or burning elms recently killed by Dutch elm disease is recommended in order to reduce transmission of the disease to other nearby trees. The only legal requirement is to obtain a burning permit. This is particularly important now, during the spring fire season when most of the snow is gone and dead, dry vegetation is abundant before greenup. Here’s how to get a burning permit in Minnesota.
-eli
I have a neighbor with a large tree that is on his side of the fence but right up against my chain link fence. I believe it originally came up from seed. The tree is now at the point at which any further growth of the trunk will damage my fence, and eventually knock it down. Neighbor will take the tree down but won’t grind the stump. In the case of an encroaching tree that is causing damage, can the property owner be forced to remove the tree and grind the stump? Or does the tree removal alone fulfill legal requirements?
Hi Ken. Great question. Unfortunately, beyond the information linked on this page, I’m not sure we can offer much specific advice. My guess would be that the property owner would be liable for any damages caused by the tree, including the stump. But you may need to talk to an attorney to get more specific advice on your rights, legal remedies, and how to proceed. You may want to try the UMN Forest Resources Department’s Outreach and Extension Tree Info Line at 612-624-3020 or treeinfo@umn.edu, or our discussion board as well.
Hi,
Our neighbor’s tree has dropped a very, very large limb (nearly half of the tree) into our yard and has caused some damage. The same tree dropped another limb on our deck last summer. It also dropped ANOTHER limb on just her property a separate time last summer as well. There was no storm or anything, just dropped the limb because the tree, to me, looks, damaged. After the limbs fell last summer she had someone out to look at the tree to get it removed and she said the estimate was too much, but the guy (maybe an arborist) said that the tree was healthy, but this kind of tree just drops limbs sometimes. She didn’t trim the tree or (obviously) have it removed.
Last summer we just took care of the limb and the damage ourselves because she said she was not legally obligated to according to her insurance because she didn’t know the tree was a hazard. So today we asked her to pay for removal of the limb that fell last night and she said the same thing. But it looks like according to this, that she is responsible for removing the limb… does my case seem to fit with that? Please help. We’re trying to avoid going to court over this and if we could show her that she is actually legally obligated, maybe she would just take care of it.
Thank you.
Hi Jess. For what it’s worth (I’m a forester, not an attorney), my understanding is that if the tree’s stem is entirely on the neighbor’s property, the neighbor is responsible. This is explained best in the article called “Hazard trees and limbs on private property” linked above.
My son has a neighbor with a row of mature aspen or poplar trees 30-40 feet tall and one foot diameter trunks, two feet from my son’s property line. The trees appear healthy but both branches and roots extend onto my son’s property. My son is planning a shop addition to his garage but the addition will come within 15 feet of the trees. Trimming braches and disturbing the ground for the cement foundation will certainly disturb these trees. These trees have outgrown the space they were planted in. Are one neighbor’s healthy trees allowed to encroach onto another neighbor’s property such that it inhibits use of the property? This topic did not appear in the discussion above. We intend to talk to the neighbor but we can’t really proceed with my son’s shop until the neighbor’s healthy trees are removed, as they will certainly be damaged if we build the shop. What say you??!!
Hi Mike. I think the situation you describe is covered in the publication linked above called “Nuisance trees: Encroaching branches and tree roots.” See the section called “What can I do if the roots or branches from my neighbor’s tree encroach into my yard?” They address both trimming trees and disturbing roots from a neighbor’s trees that encroach on your property.
-eli