Mad Canadians

[CBQ Fan]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/cp-rail-saskatoon-trees-cut-1.5577908

[Lenny53]

Transport Canada has mandated that railways do a better job of clearing along their right-of-way.  Box elder (Manitoba maple) are junk trees.

[Maletrain]

Looks excessive to me, because most of those trees were well below grade of the tracks.

With respect to being "junk" trees, that depends on who is evaluating them.  Apparently the people who walk on the edge of the property don't consider them to be junk.  And, if they could speak, the wildlife that lived there would surely not call them "junk."

From the railroad's perspective, would it rather have low trees on the banks, or really majestic trees just off the edge of its property that get tall enough to fall on their tracks, but belong to the government, so they can't be cut down?

Seems like bad ecology, bad PR and bad strategy, and for what?  What did the railroad gain by cutting those particular trees?

[CBQ Fan]

I wonder if they actually cut them down or contracted the work out?

[Maletrain]

I wonder if they actually cut them down or contracted the work out?

Good question.  Years ago, here in Maryland, I had to deal with electric utility company transmission line rights of way.  One local company used to get flack for excessive cutting, and blamed it on contract crews from Canada, whom they claimed would cut everything flat unless constantly supervised.  Culture thing, maybe?

[CBQ Fan]

Good question.  Years ago, here in Maryland, I had to deal with electric utility company transmission line rights of way.  One local company used to get flack for excessive cutting, and blamed it on contract crews from Canada, whom they claimed would cut everything flat unless constantly supervised.  Culture thing, maybe?

I think this is pretty common.

[Missaberoad]

I wonder if they actually cut them down or contracted the work out?

For the most part we contract it out. In some situations our ES guys will cut them...

Feelings about trees aside, sight lines are important. I would rather have fewer trees and be able to see the pedestrian or vehicle I could potentially hit...

[Lenny53]

Looks excessive to me, because most of those trees were well below grade of the tracks.

It has to do with distance from the rail, not in relation to whether it is below grade.

[nkalanaga]

Here in Appalachia, Kentucky and West Virginia, the state highway departments have quit trimming trees.  They now mow them, with a large "lawnmower", just like the ones used to mow the grass and weeds.  The mower is on the end of excavator arm, and they mow the trees, holding the mower blade vertically.  Needless to say, it doesn't do a neat job, breaking or tearing more limbs than it cuts, but it's fast and cheap.  It leaves the trees prone to disease and insects, but in Appalachia, most trees are considered just another type of weed. 

I grew up in eastern Washington, where trees had to be planted, and folks cared for them.  Even in Western forests, they're considered a resource, to be managed.  Here?  Who cares, they'll grow back.

[mu26aeh]

[Missaberoad]

Once again I would rather piss off the lorax then kill someone because they don't see me till its too late.

Call me funny like that...

[wvgca]

I'm three hours from there , and it's simply their property ...
that's all there is to it ..

[mu26aeh]

Nothing intended by my Lorax post, its just what I thought of when I read the story. 

Carry on....

[CNscale]

I like trees as much as anybody, but Manitoba Maples -- those things grow so fast that if they don't do anything else with that space, they'll all be back in a couple years.
In fact the before photo looks like those trees weren't more than three or four years old anyway. I'll bet CP has been trimming them back every fiew years, and this  time some tree hugger in the media had nothing better to publish.

[Maletrain]

I'm not seeing a sight line issue for trees that far below road bed level.  The tree mower that nkalanaga posted about should be able to mow the sight line rather effectively, without taking the vegetation clear down to the ground.  And, it looks like vehicles in that area are going under the rails at a bridge, not across at grade.  As for pedestrians on the tracks, there aren't supposed to be any, and the ones that tend to get struck are the ones walking down the tracks in  drunken stupor or with earbuds in both ears blaring "music".  And, of course, the engineer is not able to "slam on the brakes" fast enough to save them.

It seems that the planet is well past the stage where people can just continue thinking "trees are weeds".  People have definitely damaged our whole ecosystem, and the public is starting to push back against things like species habitat loss, global warming, flood level increases and frequency, etc.  A lot of industries, including farming, are going to see some severe restrictions on their previously unfettered activities.  So, unnecessarily making the public angry is not in the best interest of any industry, these days.