Levees and Trees - still in the news

COLUMBIA, La. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers is on a mission to chop down every tree in the country that grows within 15 feet of a levee — including oaks and sycamores in Louisiana, willows in Oklahoma and cottonwoods in California.

Cut em down is still the Army Corps of Engineers mantra.

Experts outside the corps say a tree has never caused a U.S. levee failure.

"If trees are a problem, why aren't we having problems with them?" said George Sills, who formerly worked for the corps' Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Miss. "There's never been a documented problem with a tree."

And Halpin, the corps' dam and levee expert,

said the agency does not know whether a tree has ever directly caused a levee failure. But he noted that dam failures have been linked to trees, including a 1970s collapse in Georgia that claimed 39 lives.

And so because a dam failed maybe due to a tree - levees will lose trees. As we said when I was a kid: "clear as mud."

Full article: http://cli.gs/Vb5H0E

Goodbye to the Cottonwood :-(

If you have any feelings for the old cottonwood at Gantenbein - today is the day to say goodbye - it is now being taken down.

On days when its cotton is in my food, mouth, and eyes....I go yuck! [or went yuck]

But on the many more other days - when it was alive with birds and their singing - well that made up for eating cotton...

But after today - no more. It's a tree I have a view of from my house - it will be odd to look out and not see it and I can only hope that what seems like millions of birds - find new homes.

And as a cynic who has no trust in an administration that disses real science - I ask - what if as soon as next year when we have real scientists back in the administration of government agencies [you know the ones who don't alter finding of their subordinates] - what if they then decide that old trees on levees are a good thing?

Addendum - beware - if you walk near the tree - a chorus of tree cutting idiots will wonder aloud what would happen if a tree limb were to fall on you...I walked by with my dog [the road is blocked off at the other end so the tree direction was about it for dog walking] and we were way outside the orange cones. A bicyclist also went by with his 2 kids. We all got called stupid and we were all wished damage done to us by falling tree limbs... [nice people]

I went back with my camcorder and they were silent- easier to be stupid when there is no video around!