We all love trees. They give us our life saving oxygen. They provide us shade from the blazing sun. They soak up water when it rains. 

However, ........sometimes they must come down. The funny thing is though that when the city or county says they need to come down, it's no big problem. Cut down as many as they need to for whatever project they are doing. But, hold everything....when you want to cut one down that is looming over your home....or maybe you want to put a pool in....or add a portion to your existing home......that is where all of a sudden, it's a crime. You need to get approval, possibly get an arborist report,  pull a permit and pay a fee. 

I was literally in a magistrate hearing for the city and watched a young guy get slammed for $3600 for cutting down a few crepe myrtles and then he got slammed for some trees the previous owner had cut down. Talk about a double whammy. He was also compelled to plant 13 trees in his yard to make up for it. 13 trees! Come on. This is ridiculous. We need to stand up against this kind of bureacracy.