To the Editor:
In The Lincoln County News (“Judge rules Nelson violated South Bristol Shoreland Zoning rules,” Page 1, 1/7/10). The very first sentence in the recent article is absolutely inaccurate – I never cut more than a dozen trees – hardly the 70 that the article states as a fact.
I challenge you to provide the source of your number that is consistent with the standards of Maine. I know the property owner next door hired a forester to measure everything that I cut or pruned “down to finger size at ground” and this information has been quoted wrongly by almost everyone involved as measuring the amount of “trees” that were cut.
For your reference:
In the State of Maine, a tree is defined as over 4.5 inches DBH (Diameter Breast Height which means the diameter of a standing tree measured 4.5 feet from ground level). Smaller diameter growth is referred to as “saplings” unless less than 6 inches tall when they are known as “seedlings” (Source: Maine Department Of Conservation – Maine Forest Service).
Perhaps my suggested headline doesn’t sound so newsworthy: “In clearing a former dump area, Nelson cuts 10 trees along with 60 saplings, brush and bamboo stalks – half of which were dead.” Why don’t you try that the next time you do a story.
Jim Nelson
Los Angeles, Cal.
formerly of South Bristol
(Ed Note: Our article actually said “more than 70 trees” were cut. All of the information in our story was taken directly from the court documents, which includes an inventory of the trees involved. According to the court, the total number trees cut was 76: 59 trees measured between two and six inches in diameter; seven measured between 6 and 10 inches; five between 10 and 14 inches; two between 14 and 18 inches, one between 18 and 22 inches and two over 22 inches in diameter.)
