Seattle sues homeowners for chopping 150 trees

摘要

City officials in Seattle have sued a group of homeowners for illegally felling 1.5 acres of trees on a protected city greenbelt. Several homeowners chopped down the trees last winter in an effort to improve their views. They killed 150 Scouler's willows and big-leaf maples. City Attorney Pete Holmes is pursuing $1.6 million in damages. The targeted woodlands lay within the West Duwamish Greenbelt, a strip of land that is susceptible to landslides and depends on trees' root systems to keep soils stable. Rotting logs still mar the area.