Tree removal in Windham, Maine.

On lake and river lots, tree removal is limited by state shoreland rules. Within the shoreland zone no more than 40 percent of the volume of trees four inches or larger may be removed in ten years, and inside the buffer no cleared opening can exceed 250 square feet. Windham's code enforcement office administers those rules, and it is the first call before taking down healthy trees near Highland Lake, Little Sebago or Sebago.

The buffer also has to keep a well-distributed stand of trees under the state's point system, so which trees come out, and in what order over the years, is worth settling before the saw starts.

Some Windham ground makes trees easier to topple. Lyman soils, which NRCS describes as shallow over bedrock on glaciated uplands, give roots little depth, and trees on the wetter glaciomarine silts can loosen when the soil is saturated. A tree that has started to lean after a storm, or one with a split trunk or dead top over a driveway or roof, is the kind of hazard that gets assessed first.

Removal near a house, a septic field or a lake shore is planned so the trunk comes down in sections where there is no room to drop it whole, and heavy equipment stays off the leach field. The site is left cleaned up, with brush hauled rather than piled at the edge of the woods.