A rotted oak just cost Anaheim $5.75 million

Liability was the thread this week. Three separate cases, all tracing back to a tree someone should have looked at and didn't. One climber died in California and another PA worker took a power line to the thumb. And the 50th climbing championship ran in St. Louis.

The big one

Anaheim will pay $5.75 million to the family of Maria de la Luz Cruz, killed on February 19, 2023 when an oak fell onto a parked Ford Explorer at Pearson Park. The settlement was reached in July and disclosed publicly this week (Orange County Register).

A post-incident arborist inspection reportedly found extensive root rot. The lawsuit alleged the city and its tree-maintenance contractors failed to assess and address the tree's condition. Of the payout, $2.75 million goes to the family's law firm, the rest to Cruz's husband and son.

Root rot doesn't show up in a drive-by. It shows up when someone walks the base, looks at the buttress roots, checks for fungal fruiting bodies and soft wood, and writes it down. The dollar figure here is what a missed inspection looks like after the fact. If you do municipal or park contract work, the paperwork trail on every hazard assessment is the thing that keeps your name off a cross-complaint.

The canopy

Yale and its subcontractor are now pointing at each other

A Connecticut suit covers the August 21, 2025 death of landscaper Luis Alberto Morocho Marcatoma at Yale Golf Course, where a rotted black oak fell across a driveway and pulled down a live power line (New Haven Independent). Marcatoma's estate says Yale never inspected or maintained the tree and had no tree-management plan. Yale filed a cross-complaint against Eastern Land Management over supervision and safety training. The subcontractor's response puts part of the blame on the worker for not staying clear of the downed wire. Same story as Anaheim, different state: a rotted tree nobody assessed, and now everyone lawyers up.

UW-Stevens Point gets a $5 million utility arboriculture push

The Utility Arborist Association, the Utility Vegetation Management Association and UW-Stevens Point announced a $5 million endowment campaign to fund two professorships, research and coursework in utility vegetation management (Utility Arborist Association). The UAA also handed administration of the Nelsen Money Scholarship to the TREE Fund, with applications opening January 2027.

Santa Rosa pulled a redwood removal permit

The Santa Rosa Planning Commission rescinded a permit on October 9 to remove a heritage redwood known as "Rosie," after arguments that the removal broke the city's ordinance against arbitrary removal (Press Democrat). A reminder that an issued permit is not a signed contract.

Thirty trees, wrong property, $100,000

Crews clearing land for a solar farm in Rockingham County, New Hampshire reportedly cut about 30 trees on the wrong parcel. The electric company and tree-service contractor reportedly settled for $100,000 (Ground News). Check the property lines before the saws come out.

Safety report

A tree trimmer died Sunday, October 11 near the 3900 block of Horton Road in Bonita, California, after becoming trapped and unresponsive roughly 35 to 40 feet up. Crews from Chula Vista, National City and San Miguel lowered the worker, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials had not released the name or the circumstances (FOX 5 San Diego).

In Butler County, Pennsylvania, a tree crew member was hurt around 10:45 a.m. Monday, October 5 along Deer Creek Road in Clinton Township. Dispatchers said the worker may have contacted a power line with his right thumb, and a medical helicopter was called (Butler Eagle). Local footage showed the crew working close to the line and reported the line was cut, though the extent of any injury was not confirmed (WTAE).

DR Power recalled 42,860 Pilot and Premier trimmer mowers on October 8. Grass and debris can build up inside the unit and ignite; the company reported 19 incidents in the US, two with minor injuries like blisters. Stop using the machines and contact DR Power for repair instructions (CPSC via Yahoo Finance).

Pest and disease watch

Beech leaf disease has now hit more than 200 American beech trees at the 25-acre Saddler's Woods preserve in Haddon Township, New Jersey (Philadelphia Inquirer). The disease comes from an invasive microscopic worm that puts dark banding between leaf veins before the leaves shrink and curl. Affected trees usually die within four to five years. The New Jersey DEP says it's in all 21 counties with no effective treatment, though preserve volunteers are weighing an experimental fungicide on select mature trees.

Colorado Springs confirmed emerald ash borer inside city limits in August, with about 30 trees now showing confirmed infestations (The Gazette). The city has an estimated 40,000 ash trees and thinks the beetle rode in on firewood from elsewhere in Colorado. Crews have started removing infested ash; forestry staff warn the beetle could wipe out the city's ash population in 10 to 15 years if left alone.

Species spotlight

River birch (Betula nigra) is the birch that actually survives south of the Mason-Dixon line. It's the most heat-tolerant birch going, and it shrugs off bronze birch borer far better than the white-barked birches, which is why 'Heritage' shows up in half the landscape plantings across the South and Midwest. It grows fast, tolerates wet sites and clay, and runs 40 to 70 feet.

The wood is moderately hard, light brown, around 0.56 specific gravity, nothing special on the rig. The thing to watch is how it's grown. River birch is usually a multi-stemmed clump, and those basal unions love to carry included bark. Inspect the stem unions before you set a rigging point. Prune it in summer or fall. Hit it in late winter or spring and it bleeds sap on you.

One for the lunch break

Nearly 100 arborists from 22 countries climbed pine, sweetgum and oak in St. Louis October 9 through 11 for the 50th International Tree Climbing Championship (Associated Press). Events ran the full slate: aerial rescue, work climb, ascent, belayed speed climb and throwline, dummy pulled from the canopy and all. The field was 52 men and 39 women. The first one ran in St. Louis in 1976, so the thing came home for its 50th.

Stay safe out there,

The TreeNerd crew

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