Regs on tree felling & surgery?

[Chris Head]

Is anyone aware of (if there are any) rules & regs on what you can & can't do to trees here from a surgery/felling point of view? In UK checking for preservation orders and conservation areas was routine before carrying out works. I'm resuming a degree of felling & climbing as a part of a shake up of my business & haven't researched it yet...Chrispy?

[Jonzjob]

Probably best to check each one with the 'font of all knowledge' the Mairie Chris?

[Rob Roy]

We have just picked up a Permit de Travaux for our neighbours who live in England and in the form there is a section about getting permission for felling a tree. Now, I'm sure that not every Frenchman (or any other nationality) fill out a form each time they want to cut down a tree, but officially I think that is the requirement, although I might be wrong. Perhaps if you were doing a big clearance it would be a good idea! 

[Gemini_man]

Hi Chris,

having skimmed through the net a bit I have to agree with

Jonzjob

- seems like it depends from commune to commune and especially in towns and villages so if in doubt a call at the mairies is probably the answer.

good to see you're back at the tree surgery - maybe you should say what areas you can cover in case anyone needs some work doing [:D]

[chris pp]

All you have to do is check with the DDE if there is a preservation order in place, in reality it's highly unlikely that there will be, they usually only cover trees in villages, towns and some of the historical  tree lined roads. Trees that are situated in peoples gardens in the countryside would almost certainly not have an order and if they did I would assume that the owners would know.

Chris

 

[Gardian]

Our neighbour told us that there's a theoretical requirement to re-plant one for every one that you fell.

In practice though (at least around here), they're self-seeding with the number of acorns that drop. Providing you don't go completely mad, most authorities will be more than happy if you practice sensible forestry management, over which there are regulations anyway (as in operations de debroussaillement - I've got the regs in front of me).

[Chris Head]

Thanks all....I'll pop into DDE today Chrispy to see if there is standard practice in place. I must say that the agricultural community seem to be pretty well clued up on how they use their woodland. A second generation local forester I know told me that if they didn't look after their woodland then his sons would have no income to inherit so they are very careful, they don't need to be controlled by beaurocrats.

Areas Gemini? Neither time nor distance mean very much to me.....

[pawsy]

It would appear that there are nearly as many of us Tree surgeons as there are trees now hey Chris.

In area 87 &86 there do not appear to be many listed trees at all, that said we have come across one. Aftre we condemed it the DDE did also. The removal was then a standard procedure[:)]

[Panda]

Hello tree Surgeons

What's the going rate for a tree surgeon? I have no idea.  I've got acres of trees and some are huge and near the road so could do with something doing to them, do you types do a 'survey' visit for a price??

Panda

[chris pp]

If you've got acres of trees Panda, they pay you.[:D] especially if they are good oak, cherry, chestnut and walnut, good sized straight specimens command a high price.

Chris

[Chris Head]

Agree with Chrispy but you might be disappointed with what a timber merchant will pay you, especially if the access is difficult and he has to employ specialist extraction equipment. There are ways of maximising the value of woodland to your advantage and not the timber merchants but you have to crunch figures and do your research. Quality & end usage of timber affect the prices. If access isn't too difficult then paying for pro felling and getting in a mobile sawmill will increase the amount of monetary yield you get from woodland, but you're still left with having to move the timber after felling (friendly farmer?) and market the sawn timber yourself. But you get to keep the tops for firewood; either for yourself or selling on which will help with felling & convertion costs.

If you're simply worried about safety/liability issues then a surgeon is the obvious choice. 

I personally don't charge for time to come out; just my travel expenses.

There's only one surgeon in this area Pawsy...not too sure how he gets up a tree though...he's, erm, 'well built'! I only registered over here 'cos there's some nice timber around that can't always be taken down in one....& it's kinda cool dangling up aloft... like I need to tell you about the joys of climbing eh?

[Patf]

Someone was busy near us this pm with a huge tractor plus branch cutting attachment, working overhead - what a noise! They regularly chop the oaks back to keep the agricutural land and ditches clear. So there's plenty of this kind of work, sort of major debrousillage. Could be dangerous work - take care, Chris.

[Chris Head]

It's not dangerous at all Pat...working from within the tree gives you total control, unlike farmers dangling from tractor buckets and folk working from ladders![+o(]

 

[pawsy]

Yes we di visit and give prices  Please PM for details

[pawsy]

Were with you on the climbing front Chris. Its fun and extremly safe if you know what your doing. What these roadside tree men do is NOT tree surgary is it Chris the oppersite infact more often than not.

[Chris Head]

And cost of insurance here is a real dream compared to the last time I bought liability insurance in UK....it makes the small amount of climbing I'll be doing tenable. If I remember rightly there were small businesses having real problems affording insurance because of the litigation culture there and some stories of newly qualified arborists being unable to afford the fees or not even being able to find a company to insure them in the first place! One fall, cut or claim and it could have been bye bye to your business! Perhaps things have changed by now?

[Jay]

While out for a stroll with the dogs this morning I noticed a blue arrow on a minor road pointing along the track bordering our property. A large tree on the boundary of our property was also marked with a big blue dot. Does that mean, as I suspect, there is something  wrong with that tree and it will have to come down? If that is the case do "they" do it and charge or do you get a letter demanding it is removed? Anyone had a similar situation? If it has to come down it would keep our fires going for a couple of years!

[Ron Avery]

Not a mark for a cycle race route or a walk is it?

[Jay]

Could well be Ron. I had a walk around our boundry and about 200 yards up the track our neighbours new stone wall had the same markings. It is actually a blue dot with a yellow bar next to it,done in spray paint. Either it is something like you said or our tree and our neighbours (illegal?) wall have to come down! Our French neighbours would probably have an answer but they are on holiday at the moment. I know that paths around here are being "done up" but can't imagine they would want a stone wall pulled down. If the tree has to be cut down I would rather do it myself and store the wood, there must be a good 200 or 300 Euros worth of wood in that one tree.