Oh my God!!! This bureaucrat from FEMA thinks dead trees are a good thing because it means a casino isn't sitting on your house? What is it with these people. I'm sure that if a dead pine tree was sitting in Mr. Brezany's yard he would think differently. Why does FEMA think it has to punish these people because they had the misfortune to live in the path of a hurricane. FEMA can't help displaced persons, they can't protect our borders, just what exactly is it that they can do?

Let the tree people handleit. They can prosece some or most of the woood. I am not as smart as most focks. But You knpow there mis a mill some where close ship and sale all the tree's so You can plant new one's.

Now THIS sounds more like something the Sierra Club needs to be involving itself with, instead of the question of formaldehyde in FEMA trailers. Maybe they could use the dead pine trees to build all the FEMA trailer residents a formaldehyde-free log cabin! That would get rid of TWO problems with one solution!

You can get a good chainsaw for 500 bucks. Go cut these trees down yourself if they are dead and threatening your property, family, or livelihood.

To a certain extent, the Government should help out with the damage, but come on people. You have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps at some point.

This is a good example of how Americans have become candy-asses over the past 50 years. Everyone expects others to do the hard, manual labor.

this is a prime example of stupidity gone awry. Does anyone really believe FEMA anymore with the rules and decisions they make. FEMA was a pretty good agency for quite a long time and it seems they lost their bearing now. What other choices are there? I personally think we should take the almost half trillion dollars we have spent in IRAQ and spend it on the Gulf Coast. Nearly every inch from Galveston to Fort Myers and Naples has been hit by something in the last few years. We see these articles along side ones about the absolute waste of our Tax dollars with sole source "Security" related contracts and I wonder whats next. Will someone in charge in Washington wake up and do their dadgum job? Seems that every where we look there is nothing but PRIME examples of incompetence in government starting at 1600 Penn. Ave. Someone chack and see if there is even anyone there or if the gross acts of stupidity and incompetence are actually being done from some ritzy resort at our expense?

This story highlights the need to involve professional-certified arborists in making decisions about the trees at the local level and at the Federal level. What training and expertise do FEMA or the Corp of Engineers have in assessing trees? This same problem has been happening for years on a much smaller scale in local municialities. Cities and towns cannot get appropriate aid from FEMA because of the ridiculous rules they have in place to remove trees, and yet cities cannot afford to do the clean-up on their own. It creates a huge dilemma and puts citizens at risk.

I recently came back from a trip to MS. I volunteered my time at a lumber mill set up by the Lakeshore Baptist church in Waveland MS. They are turning many of those trees into free lumber for rebuilding. Portable mills cost about 10 to 15k and additional units and help is needed. To actually use the dead trees for lumber is a solution to rid the area of a portion of the trees. It would be an outstanding gesture if one of the big lumber companies would donate some of their time and equipment to help out. If anyone has contacts at a big mill it might be a good idea to contact them about this problem. It could be good PR for the company

After Katrina our family - 4th generation loggers - tried to help. We were told in no uncertian terms to "GO HOME". There is a lot to be learned from the "mismanagement" of the pine plantations in this area. Not only are the private landowners learning this "hard" lesson, the government and large forest management/investment companies will also have a hard time dealing with the "Southern Pine Beetle".

Again, it's such a shame that this renewable resource is not being "used" to begain with - especially when it is in a "clean-up" area. The Pine Beetle loves to eat - our government has found a great way to make sure they are not hungry. If you live in the south, you may have a visitor one day - if you have Pine trees.

So, are these pine trees on private property? If they are, why is everone looking for a government hand out? Thinning trees seems to me to be a personal responsiblity of the land owner -- or am I missing something here?

Make Money!!!!!! Have loggers to come remove it and sell it to the sawmill. It will provide jobs and be a source of income for the homeowners.

Why isn't the forestry industry allowed to come take them down for making lumber or just give it to them so some good can come out of this mess. You could get a lot of wood out of the ones that aren't diseased and you would get them taken down;even if they aren't dead or have a possibility of coming back. If the wait is too long then all of them will be no good.

Please... oh please... Have the people not been through enough without all of this bull from the goverment about the trees. It has been almost a year since katrina, If the trees have not come back by now they will not come back. Or if by some chance they live, they will be sick, and a danger if another storm comes through. We the people will have to come together again and take out some trees if they are on YOUR PROPERTY and be prepared for winter. Burn it in your fireplace or woodheater, or have bon fires. With the price of gas who can afford to go anywhere any way.

As a forester who works with So. pines, I agree with Yarborough, most of these pines - loblolly, slash, and longleaf, are dead. Pines often recover foliage that is lost from “scorch” or heated air associated with Rx or wild fires. Besides fire-induced defoliation, and young seedlings stripped by sawfly larvae, I have never seen denuded pines “leaf out” and recover. Live oaks yes. Pines no. Also, the article was accurate in assigning continuing mortality to pine beetles. When stressed - and these trees are severely stressed, So. pine, ipps, and black turpentine beetles continue to kill pines for months or years after events like hurricanes or wild fires.
Worries about large dead trees being a fire hazard are over-stated. These are what we call “coarse woody debris”. For the most part, the boles or logs don’t contribute to the spread of wild fire. It is the fine woody debris (shrubs & branches), pine needles, and herbaceous growth that you have to worry about.
For a sure sign that a pine is dead and not coming back, check to see if the bark is “slipping.” When a pine tree dies, the bark starts falling off with a few months. You don’t even have to look at the crown to tell if trees are alive, just look for plates of bark falling off the bole.
Also, if you see sawdust at the base of the tree, then the tree is being attacked by pine beetles. A ring of sawdust probably means death is imminent.
We just hosted seven workshops across So. MS focusing on hurricane recovery and management of damaged stands. For more information contact your local USDA Farm Service Center or The Longleaf Alliance.

You can sell these Trees to Armstrong Cork and paper Company - pay $1,500? rediculous... These trees will be harvested for their value by people from Georgia - give me a chance. Pay me for the Equipment Costs and i will come and harvest them and NO COST!

What about the local response? Why do people always look to the federal government for help. where is the city, the county or state? Stop pointing fingers to DC and get YOUR local and state politicians to do their job!

FWIW, taking down a relatively large pine tree like the one which is depicted is not going to be as easy as some have painted it to be. It won't be a picnic DIY job if it's in close proximity to wires as in the photo. That's partially why the predatory prices are in effect now. Anyone saying that the government should not assist (at least a relief payment for multiple dangerous dead trees) in this case needs a reality check. It's not always as simple as 'it's on private property so why should the government be expected to pay'. This argument holds less water the poorer an area is, and how widespread and catastrophic damage to the environment is clearly.

Our fore-fathers forged this country by blazing trails cutting down trees. I remember reading about the Cumberland Gap in grade school. Why not allow a contractor come in and harvest all the trees and put 50% of the revenue back into the community! Come on Americans stand up and shoulder together as in past history!!!

I have a tough time believing what the author is shoveling out. If we believe the author, the U.S. has transitioned from a nation of self-reliant individuals into a welfare state where everyone sits on their hands waiting for the gov't to solve all of their problems. What I suspect is that the vast majority of the individuals there have taken matters into their own hands and taken down the trees. What I also suspect is that the author found one or two mamby-pamby, limp-wristed, light-weights who fit her world-view and that is all that it takes to create something from nothing. Let me propose an alternate headline, "Individuals Cut Trees for Firewood - The Upside of Katrina".

Hatchets are really cheap, just make a wedge the side you want it to fall, and chop on the other side. Do people not have $20 for a hatachet? chop them down, borrow your neighbors saw, and do it yourself. Some people. Whine Whine Whine

What is the matter with people? Is this not a total responsibility for the property owner for trees on their property. Tax payers do not owe one dime through FEMA to pay for storm damage of any kind on private property. You buy the property then you insure or otherwise assume responsibility for everything on it. Public property is just that and government is responsible for it and it alone, not the private property. Yeah, I have been through these storms just like many other people but I take care of my own property one way or the other. For example, I removed 85 pine trees from my yard plus other kinds at my own expense and government never spent one dime on any of this from start to finish. So, I am very well qualified to make these judgments and pay my own way in this uncertain world we live in.

A group from my school went to Mississippi this last spring break to help out with cleanup and relief. I can say first-hand that what is really needed in this sort of situation is volenteers. Sending money isn't nearly as effective, because most of it is lost in beuracracy, or eaten up by the guys charging $1500 to take down a tree.
A vast amount of free labor is what will clean up the mess and fix the problem. I know it isn't always possible to leave life and work for any real period of time, especially if it means traveling cross country. But if you are in such a position as to help out, even for a day or two, the work you do for free will save litterally hundreds of dollars, if it would ever be done in the first place, not to mention the lives it could possibly save.
I went with a group at college, but there are still churches and other charitable orginizations planning trips like this. And if you can't find one, take the innitive yourself; roadtrips are fun!

When did everything become the federal government's problem? Here's a novel idea: How about the local government get rid of the trees? When are people going to be responsible themselves and stop waiting for the government to bail them out? This country has forgotten what made it great: self-reliance.

I think that the businesses that would have orginally cut down a tree for $200 and are now charging $1500 should just be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of the sitution.

The main reason that there has to be Government involvement is that most trees in residential neighborhoods will fall on utility wires and poles if just cut down.

The Government shouldn't have to pay for the removal, but he public utilities should be required to facilitate removal of the trees by having crews available to lower and raise wires so that trees can be felled.

Sure, lumber companies will take many whole trees, but you will be hard pressed to find a tree that has to be cut away in sections and lowered by pullies because it cannot just be chopped down. And lowering a tree in that fashion is too dangerous fro the average chainsaw-owning homeowner.

When a tree in my front yard blew partially down, it was MY responsibility to take it down(or HAVE it taken down) and dispose of it. It wasn't the governments responsibility, it was MINE. We have become a society of people who think EVERYTHING should be handed out by the government, our food, clothing, shelter, EVERYTHING!!!! It's not the government's responsibility to feed me, clothe me, or remove dead trees from my yard. Where there is a will(this may be the problem), there is ALWAYS a way.

Was Al Gore in town working for FEMA? Take the trees out have them milled and donate the lumber to the rebuild and everyone gets a charity write-off.
If you can't do that cut it down and burn-it, unlock people.

P.S. If these trees get loose and start floatong around at 5 mph would you want to be in the way let alone at 50 mph.

For crying out loud! Use the wood to rebuild! Send them to a lumber mill and start building! I certainly agree with Doyle, JAmes, Al, and Angela. Our country used to be ask not what your country can do for you... I think it's finally come full circle and the country is asking what can you do for yourself ?

Assuming one could hop in the car and run to the store and FIND a $500 chainsaw. Do we really want everyone and their uncle cutting down 100+ foot tall trees with little to no training? Assuming that someone was there to tell them HOW to cut a 3 foot wide tree down using a 2 foot long chainsaw, I still wouldn't want to see how many people are hurt by the suggestion.

Bootstraps or no, they are very large trees. If it were standing in the middle of a field that would be one thing, but a great many of these trees stand near or next to structures, power lines, communications equipment and the like.

You make it sound like everyone is a complainer and won't take responsiblity. I suggest you go down and help out for a while and you'll see the resilience that most everyone left down there really has.

Why all the belly aching still? Let's talk about how beautiful the barrier islands are now---Horn and Ship Islands have never looked better. Git to work---cut down them pine trees---nothing but a headache anyway---GIT ER DONE!!! Stay positive and stop expecting everyone to pick up your tab. I got out---you can too.

There should be local loggers that would cut the trees down,they can, you know cut them in 16' to 20' lengths. Haul them to the local pulpwood mill, and even give the owner a percentage.

It is strange that this is even an issue since pine pulp farming is a huge and profitable industry in Mississippi. People farm out their land to companies for the sole purpose of selling the pulp. It seems that this should be an opportunity instead of a crisis.

I thought that I read that FEMA had been debunked a couple of weeks ago because the review panel decided it to be useless, and that the military is taking over emergencies. Wha happend?

Boy, it sure is easy to throw around terms like "bootstraps" and "candy-ass" while sitting in your undamaged, comfortable home, isn't it? Many folks would love to have $500 to spend on a chainsaw, but when insurance barely pays HALF of what is needed to make you whole, food and shelter become greater priorities. It'd be interesting to see how some folks' tune would change when the next disaster hits, say, Springfield, IL!

This seems to me to be another case of, if its being given out I want some too !!!. Whos idea was it to plant those trees anyways ? Maybe we could start a goverment task force to "root" out all those people who are "responsible" & make THEM pay !!!

there are 500k acres with dead ( matchstick pines )
in northern arizona thanks to the rodeo/chediski
fire of 2002. the local people volunteered the
manpower, equip etc. to take it down for salvage
&to protect rest of forest & neighborhoods. we were
sued by the envirowackos in new mexico. to this day
the burn still stands for a fifty mile stretch from
payson to showlow. the trees now are worthless for
salvage. i understand, after 18 months the trees get
a fungus, and not worth pursuing in any economic interest. thank you, environmentalists.

I know this is the South but not all of us are handy with a chain saw. I know my husband and I are clueless.

Maybe they should look at how San Bernardino County, CA. is handeling the tree situation that the bark beetle and drought have caused.

If the trees are on private land then the OWNER of the land IS responsable. Simple!!! Can these people do nothing for themselfs??? If they are on public lands then the local government is responsable. Where is this a federal problem...? You really cant fix stupid.

FEMA and government thinking can screw up a wet dream. This situation is an opportunity not a liability! There must be millions of board feet of lumber here just ripe for the milling unless they wait too long. Then they will really have a problem when they start rotting and dropping on people and property. Besides, It would serve to curtail the beetle population if they were milled rather than left on the stump like the thousands of beetle buffets they are right now. Get the loggers in and set up the portable mills. It's free lumber for the rebuilding and jobs for the unemployed. Hell, I'd come down there just for the thousands of cords of firewood these trees represent. What's the address?

To James Holland above,

Way to go! Great idea! There is at the very least a really nice firewood business. What? People in the southeast don't have fireplaces? I refuse to believe that folks who live in that part of this great country are so helpless! Just do it! Don't consult, don't ask, just do it and apologize to the government hacks, environmentalist wackos, and the host of other idiots later!!!

you can't sell dead wood.....the saw mill man knows what he's looking at...and cork is made of oak....if ya'll find a mill that will buy BAD pines let me know we got some the bore beetles got to

Does it now cost $1500 to remove a tree that used to cost $200 because these post-Katrina thieves see the chance to screw the government or are these the usual neighborhood thieves who don't care who steal from anybody given the opportunity?

We in Wellington, Florida have been hard hit by the southern pine bettle. Many of us are loosing 50 or more tree on our lots. Now our community that is designate as a tree city is devistated. Those who are unlucky to have only pine trees find their lots nude and the city is requireing replanting for those lost. We are hit by cost of removal and cost of replanting.

when are we going to wisen up and stop expecting anything from FEMA.

We owners of private property ARE trying to take responsibility for the dead pine trees on our land. The fact is, to have a tree removed pre-Katrina cost ~$200. Post-Katrina, it is not uncommon to get a quote of ~$1,500 (per tree), and that does not include removing the stump. Trying to rebuild our homes (with no money, thanks to insurance companies)is our #1 priority. Unfortunately, we don't have the financial means to pay 7.5 times more for a tree. We will have to delay the removal until we can afford it; period.

i don't know where gwen smith got their information from but i just had 15 trees removed from my property and it didn't cost me 1500 a tree. the total cost was 2500 and that included grinding the stumps

Ann in Waveland. find another tree cutter. there are some out there that don't charge that much.

Why don't people cut their own trees down? Alternatively, someone could buy his/her own chainsaw, cut their own trees down for firewood or a new house AND start helping their neighbors by charging pre-Katrina prices of $200-300 for a tree, make some money and get more logs for their fireplace or new house! Kill two birds with one stone!

Even if the government wanted to come on my land to cut down my trees I would not let them. My land is Private Land, that means no one can go one without my permission, including the government! “That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.”

This is hilarious. In a town 10 miles from me in Washington a guy cleaned up 4 trees that fell after a windstorm and the idiots at the Kirkland City Hall FINED HIM!

He even went as far as to ask them what they needed him to do in advance - but some braindead idiot at the Kirkland Planning Dept made a mistake and said the Cottonwood trees that fell were a weed which they are and this guy cut them up and Kirkland got rich off him.

The funny thing about this? the guy is a philanthropist that assisted in post-Katrina medical care to the tune of $30,000.

Are ALL gov't employees brain dead?

Axes are cheap and readily available at just about any hardware store.

Sounds like if anyone actually wanted to make money in the Gulf states, they would get into the tree cutting business. Of course that would require working everyday, and not depending on the federal government to bail you out-a spirit I have yet to see in ANY news report regarding the people living in many of the Gulf States. The federal government can't be responsibile for everything, when are people going to learn that? Simply unbelievable.

A little self-help goes a long way. It doesn't take a college degree to cut down a tree. Parents should put their teenagers to work; let them do something productive for the family. Hard working teens might earn a pretty decent income from tree removal and can help their families during this tough time. Putting kids to work chopping down trees sure beats letting them sit on their rear ends all summer playing video games.

The USA that we live in today gives rise to all of the "why should I be paying to help you" rants. As Ann from Waveland and others have tried to point out, there ARE reasons why some things--like tree removals--aren't the top priority. I started to make a list of them, but what's the point? IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN the magnitude of the destruction, nor lived with the Gulf Coast residents to EXPERIENCE THE EVERYDAY CHALLENGES OF LIFE, you CANNOT UNDERSTAND the pervasive rebuilding of everything: homes, businesses, and lives. I know that for FACT.

I saw it, living there as a volunteer for three weeks in March. No radio talk show host, no rabid blogger mad because someone else is getting something from the government that she isn't getting, and not even seeing picture after picture of destruction can possibly make even the most selfish big-mouth understand what our fellow Americans in Hancock County, Mississippi are facing.

When you must routinely drive 40+ miles for needed things....when most have lived as if they were camping for a year, except with no home nor possessions to return to.....when groceries are bought at gas station convenience stores because there is no supermarket....when your family is dispersed across the country.....when your county's budget is tens of millions of dollars in the red because of this disaster...These are just a minute fraction of the challenges faced every single day.

I need to throw in the lack of medical facilities (all destroyed) and the doctors who are heeding the advice to "move away from there", fleeing the area to start again somewhere else. I was injured during my stay there, and the nearest possible medical treatment for my imjury was 95 miles away. So I did without until I was back home, 1,000 miles north.

And here's the real reason, the sad reason, for my posting. After living in Hancock County for three weeks, I witnessed the very hard, very tiring, and very persistent WORK that everyone there is doing day in and day out. No one is sitting around waiting for the TV cameraman to show up so they can complain. They are busy rebuilding their lives, and wondering why obstacles keep getting in their way from doing just that. Reading these

"Jeez, we're tired of this news--are we still paying for this? This was LAST YEAR'S disaster, for cryin' out loud?
postings does nothing more than make me realize too many ignorant people have computers now and know how to complain with them.

The cushy-computer-chair crowd needs to get off their rear ends and go see for themselves how things are working there. THEN, and only then, are they entitled to anything (like respect for their opinion) other than a big "Shut up NOW" from the rest of us. Of course, the Gulf Coast residents being upstanding and outstanding people, are too polite to say this, not to mention too busy to be bothered by it. So I'm happy to do it.

Buy a new chain saw for $200 ..
Cut down the tree (save $1300)
Call FEMA ..to remove tree "they missed in clean up"
THEN ..cut down trees for your neighbors for "just $200" ..and ask them to call FEMA for tree removal.
Make lots of money to pay for re-building your house instead of just "sitting around waiting for the insurance"...ask for cash..avoid taxes !

After Ivan in Sep 04, we were told the pine trees would come back. It appeared all of mine were dead, so except for one, I had them all removed 21 big ones. I left it intact just to see if it would come back. It hasn't, but the live oaks have.

$1500 a tree sounds like an excellent opportunity for young entreprenuers to start a buisness, especially since you get a chainsaw for the $200 dollars it used to take to cutdown a tree. It seems that the local residents have to decide whether or not it is cost effective to take care of the problem themselves or pay someone. I think that FEM
A is in a very difficult situation in trying to figure out just how to effectively spend our tax dollars. If a true disaster exist then I think the residents need to buy a how-to book and a chainsaw and get to cutting down those trees!!!!!!

In Palm Beach County, Florida after three hurricanes in two years, we now have huge canopies of pine trees being killed off by beetles. The experts are saying that the trees that are near the end of life, have been weaken by the storms and the drought we had this past winter are under attack by two types of beetles. Local communities may have to pay up to $660,000 to remove 50% of the dead trees on public properties. My Homeowners Association, this week, are having 26 trees that are dead or infested cut down and removed at a cost of $6,000. In my own yard I'm having one taken down for $250 because it cannot be dropped.

And no one has asked the FEMA nor should we. The government cannot fix everything and I would not expect them. FEMA is an emergency response agency after a catastrophe, not a year later clean up the yards and playgrounds of America.

I have a rule that helps me be get things done and successful, "If you see that some thing needs to be done, don't expect someone else to do it".

We in South Carolina faced the same issue after Hugo. I think each individual should be resposible for trees on private property. The usually are loggers who will come a take trees down just for the timber. The pines will not come back but most of the hardwood will as we witnessed after Hugo.

Pine should not be burned in fireplaces; it coats the chimney with creosote, creating a fire hazard. I pray no one pays attention to this stupid and dangerous suggestion. I wish you a lot of luck in your life's decisions because you will need it.

What Sherman didn't burn, the Boll Weevils ate, well until Katrina blew it all to Hell.

Look at it this way? Dat deem tree up dare is free far wood for a hell of a bond fire that you can use to spell out "Kiss by ass BUSH! You would be saving the Country money because we wouldn't have to poll everybody to wonder how they feel about their fearless leader. I'll sell you an ax and a file for $20 (four easy payments plus shipping of course) I agree with the statement "where there is a will, there is always a way" Have a chain saw? Use it. Does your neighbor have a Chain Saw? Buy Him some extra gas. Nobody has a chain saw? Have a come-a-long and a pick-up truck? Stop whining - Suck it up and get it done. No not everyone is a skilled lumber jack that can fell a tree on a steel pin, But everyone has a skill, use that to barter what you need done. Sit around and cry the blues about how Uncle "W" let you down and God will send you a bigger storm next year to show you who really is running the show. YES! the rest of the Country is reaching the enough mark about that bitch Katrina -
Show the rest of the Country you won't let a little wind storm beat you. If you don't beat it, your kid's kids (not to mention my's kid's dog) will being paying the tab for your failure to rise to the ocassion.

I lived through Hurricane Andrew and Miami lost 98%of their pine trees; what happens in the storm is that the tree is bent over by the wind and the sap line is snapped. The tree dies--after several years it will just rot away--look anywhere in South Florida and you will see these rotting and broken trees.

Don't people and neighborhoods have an obligation to take care of themselves a little bit? Why should you be waiting for a government agency to cut down a tree? I'm a private citizen, have a day job, but have cut down 10 or so trees myself this year. I didn't ask the government to do it, or for pemission, either. Just take responsibility for being alive. This level of dependency on government is insane, and economically un-sustainable.

New Englanders in Vermont, New hampshire, And Maine had been totally snowbound in their homes in the 70's under 6-8 feet of snow for 2-3weeks and these folks took it upon themselves to survive with lack of food, heat, & gov't assistance. Bush is in charge, our gov't is slow to assist the weak & helpless and FEMA is a festival of fools.

Pine trees are not FIREWOOD. If you think you can burn Pine in your fireplace for an extended peiod of time - I hope you have a wonderful fire department.

Most people do not have chainsaws and these trees cannot be sold to lumbermills because they are storm damaged and or beetle bored. They are not used for cork and I'm really not sure where there are any pulp wood yards that will take the stuff. We are local loggers that tried to help, by harvesting the trees while they were still able to be sold to the mills - at no cost to the landowners. The local and national govts. told us to go home - so we went home!!!
It's easy to set in your airconditioned homes and tell others what to do. The private property owners are not even around anymore - much less able or willing to cut down trees!! America needs to finally realize that, yes, we are responsible for ourselves and our property,
but when our government with "arms" speaks - you pretty much do as your told. Then we usually end up in messes like these.

I,ll be the first one to say that FEMA has no clue of what they are doing nor have they ever, but is really their responsability to deal with "Trees" on peoples private property. You know the risk of hurricanes and what they can do when you move into an area like that. Everyone wants a hand out anymore. Go buy a saw, a pair of gloves and get to work cutting down yourselves.

How bout building houses so people don't have to live in contaminated trailers???? Good points people. Maybe we should take over this on going recovery project?

Home ownership is expensive no matter where you live. Private homeowners are responsible for removing dead and damaged trees. But because of Katrina, these gulf coast homeowners are overwhelmed with the enormity of the situation. Add price gouging which allows a $200 removal charge to grow to a $1500 charge per tree and people need some help. Where is the state and local government? The local representative to the state legislature immediately should bring a bill to disallow price gouging after an emergency or natural disaster. Price increases on necessary services and construction should be limited to a 40 or 50% increase over the local cost prior to the event. If price gouging were stopped, then homeowners would be more able to help themselves. Utility companies need to lend their expertise and hire out their tree removal services to homeowners at a REDUCED RATE. The state and local politicians need to take charge here. Money is scarce, but if you have no money, you can't help yourself. It is a hard cruel fact, but the reality of Katrina may force some of these former homeowners to choose being a renter and giving up the expense of home ownership. Displaced seniors without family support are the most vulnerable. Maybe we need "senior villages" with smaller units and shared property maintenance. Life is difficult for everyone, but we do need to be both sympathetic and realistic in solving these issues. Good luck to the beautiful gulf coast.

I'm surprised that nearby logging companies have not expressed an interest in the wood, whether it be for their pulp content for paper products, making toothpicks or even their lumber content for building materials, many would produce a number of board feet of good lumber. Better yet, I would imagine that the trees are readily accessible from roads and other locations, far more so than logging the side of a mountain so the loggers expense for removal would be low, which gives them incentives to take them because they can profit from the end product(s). So why not offer them to loggers for free, if they will come remove them?

Immediately after the storm hit us a friend was out cleaning up debris and cutting trees in his yard in Abita Springs, La.. Something went wrong, the tree hit him in the head and he died in route to the hospital. He was in his 40's and his wife is now a widow. She has lost everything - literally.

PEOPLE SHOULD NOT USE CHAINSAWS OR ATTEMPT TO CUT DOWN TREES UNLESS THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING!

Personally, I had over 40 trees on my property downed or partially downed. Most of the smaller ones my husband has cut with a chainsaw and we have stacked for firewood. (It is a misconception that we do not have fireplaces down here) My brother-in-law from Georgia helped us take down a very large pine in our front yard, next to our house. That was down right scarey to watch and we were thankful it did not hit our house or the power lines. My brother-in-law had experience cutting trees - but if you don't know what you are doing YOU SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT IT!!

I personally still have 10 or more trees some of which are pushed over (with roots balls exposed)as big as 10 feet high. They WILL have to be removed professionally - SOMEDAY when we have recovered financially.

What you apparently don't understand around the country is that we have been screwed by insurance companies (Allstate now trying to cancel wind and hail coverage at the start of hurricane season!), the feds, mortage companies, building contractors and our local governments......not to mention the out of town contractors down here charging 3 times the fair rate because it's a disaster area and they are nothing but greedy.

The lessons we have and ARE learning the hard way is a lesson PEOPLE FROM ALL STATES should be paying attention to .......because next time it may be YOU no matter where you live. If you think you are immune from disasters just because you live inland you are an idiot!

We are not looking for handouts - that the MEDIA folks and a very small percentage of the population!
Frankly, we are sick of hearing how lazy we are from posters like some of you.....it's NOT about being lazy - its about being OVERWHELMED first emotionally (many people lost all their belongings, their homes and some family members) - then FINANCIALLY (personally I was out of work and evacuated for close to two months) and then when you finally get to come home you work 40+ hours, negotiate with all of the government agencies/builders/tree cutters/etc. etc. etc. and when that is all done you go out and spend time on your property cleaning and clearing.

Like someone said earlier on this site....don't send money - COME DOWN, DRING YOUR CHAINSAWS AND EQUIPMENT AND HELP SOMEONE!

People in La/Ms are good people....we would have done the same for you! Get a heart people

It used to cost $200 to remove a tree and now it costs $1500?!?!? Where are the authorites who are supposed to safeguard against gouging? Forget the morally bankrupt individuals who would charge these prices; show me the elected officials who allow this to go on and I'll show you the real culprits.

Wow, I'm embarrassed to say that I'm from Springfield, IL too. A few points to make...First: our recent tornado here in Springfield was NOTHING compared to the devastation in the Gulf area. Second: let's talk about insurance coverage. My excellent homeowner's insurance only covered $500 for tree removal from our tornado (my bill was $1200 and I still have stumps that will have to be removed). I had already paid $1000 just last fall to have dead wood removed so I wouldn't have tree damage in a storm. The insurance companies aren't wanting to pay for "flood" damage in the Gulf area so I'm sure they won't want to pay full price for tree removal. Where would a homeowner, already reeling from Katrina, find the extra cash to pay out of pocket for professional tree removal?? Third: yes, you need professional tree removal. Many people, every year, are killed or maimed by trying to remove trees themselves. Fourth: yes, it would be great if professional tree workers could get into the area to do the work. I know licensed and experienced workers who went to the Gulf area to try to work and were so frustrated by the red tape required that they gave up. Fifth: it's not that these people are lazy, they are TIRED!! It's been a struggle for them just to live day to day. And guess what, hurricane season is just around the corner. We are no better prepared for the next one....no, we haven't learned a thing.

when i read all this , i think its awfull to charge that much for a tree to remove.how can plain people pay for that.I have a pine tree ,suddenly dies i dont know why its tall and brown now.I dont know where to find someone to cut my tree,and sure i cant do it myself and get a chainsaw iam 65 years old .But i will keep trying to get someone to cut my tree myself.

Yes, Dan, it's sad...if you want a licensed, bonded and insured tree removal service you will pay up to that much, per tree, for removal. Most don't want to be bothered for less, and frankly don't have to be because even at those exorbidant prices they have plenty of work, mostly for the cities and counties who have to use licensed, bonded and insured tree removal, and since FEMA picks up the bill for most of the city/county tree removal, the elected officials don't really care. Oh, you can get an unlicensed and uninsured jack-leg for less, but you're on your own if he drops the tree on your house or power lines. Cutting small trees yourself is fine, but many of the dead trees are southern pines, 40 to 50 feet tall. If they're within 50 ft of a power line or road or house, you can't just drop them. They don't always fall the way they're supposed to even if you cut the wedge right, because when they are that tall the wind shifts them unpredictably, twisting them as they fall. The only safe way to cut a tall dead pine in a residential area around houses and power lines is from the top in 10 or 12 ft sections and letting them drop to the ground. That means having bucket truck. As firewood, pine trees are worthless. The sap residue builds up in the chimney and causes a chimney fire. And pulpwood mills aren't going to pay anybody anything for trees when they've got an endless supply of free trees being delivered to them daily by FEMA-paid tree removal contractors.
It's a whole different world down here now than most of you are used to, America.

As much as I feel for indivduals that experience disaster, there does come a time when you must become responsible for yourself and yours. I do think it is the responsibility of the local, state and federal government to provide urgent care in the immediate crisis - HOWEVER - This is becoming a chronic condition. I think it is time to stop asking what your government can do for you, and start asking what you can do for yourself.

Does anybody remember where FEMA gets its money to pay for all the cleanup? All of us, the American taxpayers! I'm tired of my tax dollars going to people unwilling to help themselves. Need money to pay for tree service? Remember how you spent the debit cards given to those in the disaster areas were spent? Breast implants, season tickets, lap dances and the like. Remember hurricane Charlie the year before? My neighbors and I cleaned up the mess ourselves on our property. No handouts, no FEMA. Just a willingness to get the job done without a lot of whining. So I say to you, get off you butt and get to work!

Thank you to those of you who understand our position. For the others - what the media isn’t going to show you are the majority of us residents hustling everyday as we rebuild our homes and this community. I believe there is a misconception from some who have not yet visited this area. We are educated, work 40+ hours per week, and pay our mortgage, taxes, and insurance. We personally paid insurance premiums for many years with no claims until Katrina. We aren’t asking for a bigger, fancier home. We merely want the modest one our family lived in the day before Katrina hit. (My parents are in their late 70’s, paid insurance premiums since 1960 with no claims. Their insurance company is telling them they will get zero. They are more-than-willing to downsize from their five-bedroom home to a one-bedroom home. Where do they begin?) We faithfully paid our premiums so we would be protected. Without our due from the insurance company, we are trying to rebuild on our own. To cover the inflated cost of labor and materials, we have had to wipe out our savings and retirement accounts. Add to the financial woes facts such as finding an available friend with a pickup truck to transport supplies and material from 30+ miles away. This is at the end of a workday AND weekends. In between, we are on the cell phone (without a house, we don’t have a land line) trying to contact a contractor with expertise on those things we cannot do ourselves. IF we’re lucky, our call will get returned or one may show up – of course, with an inflated price quote. By the time we get a 2nd or 3rd quote, the price has risen. Our children aren’t sitting around playing videos. They are on the floor doing homework, or in the yard helping out. With children helping out, we have to be extra careful. In addition to the anticipated rusty nails, there is an increase in black widow and brown recluse spiders. The new guests such as hermit crabs aren’t such a bother. By nightfall, we are all exhausted. But not too tired to comfort and rub the back of our child who is crying herself to sleep because she wants to “go home.” Unfortunately, my husband’s day isn’t over. His job is law enforcement and he is on call. Just as he lays his head down, the phone rings and he is gone. By the time he returns, he has only a few hours of sleep remaining (if he doesn’t get another call) before a new day begins. In addition to ourselves, we are trying to help my parents. At their age, and with their failing health, they cannot handle the stress of rebuilding. Most of my siblings cannot help because they too, have lost their home and some, their jobs. I’m not whining. We are so grateful for the important things – our faith and our family. We are overwhelmed and deeply appreciate the outpour of support from volunteer groups coming to this area. We don’t want your sympathy but a little empathy for what we’re going through would be nice.

Where will it end? If we the people (government) are responsible for taking down the trees because they pose a potential threat of becomming a missle during the next storm, shouldn't we also be responsible to remove all threats? What about the shingles on the roofs? They can be stripped during high winds causing injury. Why not the siding on the walls, the sutds in the buildings, and those nasty utility poles that harbor those dangerous wires. If we adopt a policy of removing the potential threats where would it end? We should level everything within 20 miles of the potential landfall areas and turn them into wastelands, post no trespassing signs and let anyone who enters those areas know they do so at their own risk. Oh wait, that is how it is now!
When did we transform from a nation of independence to a nation of dependance? When did we forget the spirit of personal ownership and trangress to the spirit of reliance? When did we embrace the attitudes of weakness and entitlement over strength and the right to self determination?
People, please wake up and if you are a man, reach over and grab the zipper that is on the side of you pants and slide it back to the front where it belongs. If you are a man with a zipper on the front, help a woman. If you are neither, crawl back into your hole!

most of these post's do apply but where are the anti-price gouging people?? To sum it all up..SUCK IT UP..and remember The LORD helps those that help themselves,Tho not to others belongings...

It's funny/sad to read the commits on these situations going on in the areas most hit. Everybody must think that nothing/nobody from these areas are doing anything to get there lives back. Just like the reports from the dome and convention center, you get one person who says one thing then it get's turned into something else. Let the truth be known, the majority of the people are doing everything they can to do that very thing, while living somewhere else. These people are tring to pay for two places at one time. Just because traffic stalls doesn't mean the engines aren't running. People everywhere else complain about the price of fuel that you waste because you won't walk two blocks to get something. Try paying three times the price for somewhere to live so you people can complain that we're not helping you live your life. Take one month of bills and food, double that, add on the payments we still pay back home, plus the fuel (3000 miles a month extra), to get there and back to do the things you SAY we're not doing for ourselves. If we just stop to do everything down here, the rest of you everywhere else wouldn't know what to do, or how to do it.

There is never really going to be a Katrina recovery. Global warming will allow the oceans to reclaim low lands. This is a fact. Every penny that you spend there is ultimately a waste of money. Your grandchildren will never see this land as an inheritance. What are you going to leave them? Maybe a half acre of the Gulf of Mexico.

The citizens need to concede defeat. You cannot beat back the water forever. People need to just move away and start over on higher ground. It will not make a lesser person of you to admit and accept reality.

I have an Elm in my back yard that died two years ago. When can I expect FEMA to remove it at no cost to me? After all, it is susceptible to insects, a hazard in a windstorm and generally doesn't look good. Because I live in Ohio, can I expect a Government handout as well? The answer is "no". I will do what 99% of the rest of the country has to do. I will either hire someone to remove it, at my cost, or pull out my little Poulan and cut it down myself. I am just as sympathetic to Katrina victims as the next guy, but, as a taxpayer, I have paid for trailers, hotels, cars, homes, boats, etc. Now I have to pay for dead pine trees to be removed because it may or may not have been killed by the storm?

Tree removal on private property is not an entitlement. There is some risk involved in home ownership...particularly along the Gulf Coast!

A question: is there anyone down South who has homeowners' insurance?

let the locals cut the trees. must be some wood cutters around there.no big deal good for the econamy

I own about an acre in South Florida on which I built a house a few years ago. About a third of the pines scattered through our back yard have succumbed to that beetle. The needles turn brown and they die in the apparent space of a week or two. Eventually, the bark can fall off.

The eyes of three hurricanes have passed over the top of our five year-old house and the house sustained no damage. HOWEVER, our pool screen enclosure was severely damaged, last season, when a hurricane caused a tree which had clearly died about two weeks earlier, to snap in two about half-way up and crash down on the screen enclosure! Dead pines DO become much more dangerous, susceptible to breaking in half, halfway-up, as anyone near the hurricane-ravaged woods of South Florida will tell you, or FEMA! Get them removed! They are a huge hazard, both for wind and for fire.

I don't know who should clean them up but, as I detailed in my other post, they must be cleaned up. Someone mentioned that a chainsaw only costs around $500. I have never paid even close to that for one that could take down the typical small-to-medium slash pine.

Thank you! to Mike from Indiana!

To so many of the ignorant posters here...why are you so angry? Has your tax bill gone up? Are you happy with the $1 BILLION we spend in Iraq every WEEK? Why not tell them to take care of their own mess?

To the morons who suggest letting the local government deal with this...what local government? When 90 miles is devestated there is no tax base = no money!

Cut down the tree yourself? Do you have any idea what it takes to take down a 50ft pine? Then try it in a yard.

Burn it in your fireplace? Unforgivable ignorace! Burn these trees in your home, and you will burn your home down.

There is not enough people, or money to do this on an idividual basis.

Sell your timber? LMAO!

Before the storm I had 15 acres of mature pines. I was on the waiting list to have them harvested, and in need of the money. At least 50% of my trees are down. This makes for an extremely dangerous situation even for professionals. Now with the drought and the beetles, the loss and danger is compounded.

There should have been a program started to co-ordinate loggers and property owners to remove and make use of these trees.

This is not just a matter of clean up, but one of prevention. My stand of trees is what protected my neighbors rickety trailer from the storm. My neighbors to the north had clear cut, so we had no protection and lost our roof and entire barn.

Fire is a constant fear with these trees. Another storm will make deadly missles of these trees.

To those who keep saying we should just move away from the coast, may I remind you that Katrina took down large numbers of trees as far north as Meridian MS?

If those on the coast did all move away, what would the rest of the country do about the loss of oil and gas that comes from us? Can the nation do without the ports?

I am at the point where I think everyone on the coast, from Mobile to Texas should just leave town for 30 days, close everything and see how the rest of the country likes it!

Remember the old joke about who is more important, the anus or the brain? The rest of the nation may think New Orleans is the anus of the nation, but you will be in trouble if it doesn't work!

Reading these was interesting. People who give realistic, personal accounts of the situation are experienced and articulate. The ones who give the same unrealistic solutions don't seem to be able to read.

Yea I finally see the light. Everybody just needs to move away from the coast. Knowbody needs anything from those areas anyway! Who needs Seafood anyway. We can always get fish from the rivers and lakes. I am sure the U.S.A. really doesn't need to be on the high seas for any reason. I can't believe some of the idiotic things I am reading on this site.

Where do you really think you get most of your gas from? It seems to me that alot of the people posting here probably wouldn't need gas anyway, they already have plenty of hot air, or they could just burn the MS pine in thier fireplaces and not have to worry about it. I just hope they don't need any help when they go to cut down the trees in thier yard after thier houses burn to the ground. They probably won't. Since all it costs is a couple of hundred bucks for a chain saw. If they have a 100ft tall pine tree in thier yard they could always get money from thier neighbor, not to drop the tree on thier neighbors house. Hasn't anybody in MS thought of extorting thier neighbor instead of trying to get something out of the government fund that they been paying into for all these years? Heck, maybe if you did drop your tree on your neighbors house you could get more money out of your homeowners policy. Just a thought. Boy thier really are alot of advantages to moving inland.

Just think of how much more valuable the inland realestate will be worth when everyone from the coast moves inland about what would you say 100 miles or so. Just in the first 3 miles or so in MS there were what over a couple of hundred thousand homes destoryed. I bet real estate values around my small community would probably triple!

What a bunch of IDIOTS! THESE ARE AMERICANS!

FEMA did not plant the trees. My god people, ask what you can do for your country, don't ask what your country can do for you.

All you people who are telling others to "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" and other BS: Have you gone down to MS and helped out with rebuilding yet? No, you haven't. So, you really don't know what you are talking about, do you? I went down for 8 days in April and it's not as easy as "go buy a chainsaw and cut them down yourself, just like our forefathers did!". And this is coming from a "pull yourself up from your bootstraps" person, but unless you have gone down and helped someone put their life back together, you are just talking out of your backside.

Whose land are the trees on? Let them take care of their own property. It is not the job of the government to do everything for these people! Free handouts! Take care of evacuating people from place they don't belong! Gimme, gimme, gimme. We do NOT have a communistic state where everyone gets everything free! and we should not. Take responsibility for yourself and your property. Lots of good suggestions in here as to what to do with the wood. Get to it!

How many of you have ever cut down a large tree? A large tree that can only fall one way or it will hit the house on either side. I watched professionals take down a badly damaged tree to the the east of my house and I held my breath. They didn't just chop it down, they had to climb up to the top and take it out in pieces as there was not enough room for it to just fall in one piece. Watched another group take down a tree in the yard of a house behind my place and a good sized part of it fell and just missed their house. These men were also professionals. I get the idea that people who have been saying, "well, just cut it down" think we only grow our trees short. A tree being cut and falling in the wrong direction is just as deadly as if a storm blows it down.

Why do some people want the government to be responsible for everything? Are these the same people who want a handout every time they have a personal problem? If the trees are on government land, the government would be responsible. If the trees are on my land, they are my responsibility. It ought to be that simple!

I am amazed at all the self rightous comments posted here with simple solutions. I took my family to the Mississippi coast to let my children see the magnitude of the destruction. Try to imagine entire neighborhoods of houses with only a few that are inhabitable. Try to imagine the same thing for mile after mile along the coast. For 20 miles? Try to imagine people living in tents....since last August 29th, ten months after Katrina. Think about just trying to live day to day. Think about people living elsewhere, paying rent and all the living expenses...and still paying the mortgage on a house they cannot live in. Pay someone to cut a tree down? Cut it down yourself? Some of you ought to try walking a mile in these people's shoes...and then cut a tree down with a hatchet after work.

Go to New Orleans. Drive along I-10 and I-610. You will see mile after mile after mile of homes, apartments and businesses that will have to be razed. That means bulldozed and hauled off. Take those miles that you can see from the safety and comfort of your car on the interstate and imagine the same types of ruined buildings for blocks going away from the interstate.

Simple statements are easy to make. Simple solutions work for simple problems. The devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita spans from the Texas-Louisiana line to the Mississippi-Alabama line and extends many, many miles inland. A simple solutution will not work.

I don't have the solution. But I know I haven't seen it in previous postings.

I,ve seen a pile of hurricanes while growing up in florida (46years)i've seen just as many creative responses to solving the problems presented by the storms that NEVER DiD involve Uncle Sam. I can honestly say that I feel bad for you'all but it's time to make the dirt fly. Start by making local groups...Neighborhood level ...and get off the damn
cell phone, pull yourself away from you're Blasted
T.V. and FINALLY learn what your neighbor's name is!! tell the damn news people to find another story because you have some work to do....small ,,i mean small neighbor groups, can work fast together ,and for each other..they also can be more organized. The
South is a great place to retire from the freezing north, but there is a flip side to every thing---
beetles in trees are one thing that is the result of coastal storms (hurricanes) ,,surely a small organized group can overcome this problem that has been around since the Spanish and French, settled the dirt you are standing on top of. There was NO FEMA .Remember this. You are Americans and our prayers and endless support are with you...but I'll be willing to bet that if a hard cold winter is blowing down your neck, remember them? no offense but they were the reason alot of ya'll came down . NOT Everybody (of course), I think things would be a
bit different.. people would settle for a little less, get you and your neighbors on your feet, quit
swapping hurricane horror stories and you'd darn sure
be amazed at the work that you got done while some
Gubbment paper folks were doing they're job ,(Keep in mind they've done alot, really, and somebody on the other side of the fence is always ready to criticize you, them ,the Gubbment, who by the way.. Gubbment was certainly at fault for not warning you that the bird was gonna Physiologically
bomb you on the head with poop....("Damn did'nt see that comming")"Impeach the President, "Fire the Mayor
COMM'ON FOLKS!!! ,,This is just trees and Yes I've had to Deal with those sneaky things MYSELF, MYSELF
that's right......MYSELF.. God bless and you really
are in my prayers.
And PLEASE wash your hands before sitting down to eat,because ,we oviously couldn't handle a Typhoid
breakout at this time right now .

Global warming and rising oceans are not going to just magically affect the Gulf of Mexico, w myers of Knoxville. The rise in the oceans will be uniform and worldwide. Using your rationale, we should just abandon miles and miles of coastland as well as all land along rivers and waterways, because when the ocean water starts to rise, it's going to rise on any body of water connected with the oceans. But then, would'nt a massive inundation of that volume of fresh water in such a short period into our oceans drop the ocean salinity so much that all of the marine life, on which the whole world depends for its survival, be unable to itself survive? Thus by extension, if the oceans die would not the entire planet eventually die? If you are going to use the "global warming/ocean rising" science to justify a position that we should not rebuild our homes because they'll eventually be under water, then extend the argument fully- if the scenario you describe happens it's going to affect every human alive everywhere on the planet, and Knoxville Tenn will not be immune to its effects. You are not just going to be able to sit there, immune in the aftermath, and say " too bad for all those people."
Now, can we get back to talking about the subject of this story, pine trees?

One time I lived in the mountains. It rained and stormed, I moved. Bought a house on a lake, it rained and stormed there also. So I moved to the desert, guess what, it rained and stormed there. I moved to the ocean and yes, it rained and stormed there again. Do you think I have figured it out now? It rains and storms EVERYWHERE!

Yeap, belive I'll cut me a few pine trees ....and have firewood for the winter.....LOL!!!!!....but I ain't gonna cut the dead ones, cause the sawmill will buy them!!

Hey Doug in Ohio, of course people in the south have homeowners insurance.....I had four trees go down in Katrina. Fortunately or unfortunately for me, none of the four hit my house. If the trees are not on the house, homeowners doesn't pay for their removal. Homeowners also does not pay for any landscaping you may have lost. I had a root ball from a fallen oak that was the size of pickup truck. Insurance wouldn't pay. Allstate pays a total of $500 for debris removal which includes downed trees, roots, stump grinding and general cleanup. $500 doesn't go far when 4 trees and stumps need to be removed. But you get an "A" for effort as far as trying to make all homeowners in the south look like idiots!!!!

How dare anyone ask the question, "does anyone down south have homeowners insurance"? What a lame, ignorant thing to say. You want to talk insurance on house and property - then get your lazy behind down here and really listen to what people are going through. I won't even tell you what amount of money we were paying on insurance each year AND do you think we are able to rebuld what we had? And yes we did have flood, wind and anything else you can think of. Oh, we didn't have valcano and earthquake. That is what some other states have to have!

Well, I witnessed an elderly homeowner outside of Waveland "taking charge" and having someone "responsible" take down the dead pines in his yard. One large tree fell across the road, hit a transformer and set the dead pine forest across the road on fire, burning a couple of homes already severely damaged by Katrina. It's not as simple many think. You gotta chop for a while with a hatchet to down a pine two foot in diameter. People who have lost everything, especially the elderly have little resources to tackle this kind of job. People who have not seen it, walked it, lived it will never understand. I truly hope they, in their blessed ignorance, never have to.

From someone from Louisiana, who lived there until the hurricane:

This is a serious problem. People don't have the skill to remove these trees safely, and a mistake in removing them puts a lot of people at risk. The poster above me, from Waveland, makes that point well. Prices for anything like this being done professionally - the only way anybody should be doing it - are astronomical.

Those who are asking why the people of Louisiana and Mississippi are asking for help with this from the government: Do you have $1500 in disposable cash, right now? $3000? More? I lived in a house trailor, and on the lot my trailor was on - a tiny lot in a trailor park - there were three pine trees.

$1500 times 3 is $4500. How many trailor-park dwellers - hard-working people doing the kinds of jobs everyone depends on having done - do you know with $4500 in extra cash to throw around on the drop of a hat?

Yeah, I thought so.

Wow. You folks from elsewhere must think we all live
in rural lands with outdoor outhouses and not a power
pole for miles. It seems like we can't win with you people. You keep hounding us to "recover, recover", so we try, and start by getting the power back on first. Then you hound us to cut down dead/dying trees, which happen to be mere feet from power poles. Yeah, no risk there. Then you say "hire professionals" - if you can find any, they'll either charge a ton of money or screw it up badly.

I think we Mississippians are your guilty conscience, the little voice in your head that bugs you about why YOU HAVEN'T HELPED OUT. I think you want us to "recover" quickly so that you'll think recovery is always quick, no matter what happens to you or where you are when it does happen. Whistling past the graveyard. After all, this is America! Slow, years-long recovery doesn't happen here, it happens in third world countries with monsters for dictators or governments with a long history of corruption, right? So, democracy = fast recovery, does it?

For me, right now, here in BSL at least, democracy =
the right for the judgmental clueless to get on websites and hound the recovering incessantly to drown out the little voice of panic and doubt in their heads. Maybe in a year or so, democracy will be for me what it has always meant to be. But right now, with all I have to do to get going again, the mosquito-like buzzing of the "why aren't you recovering faster?" crowd is at best an annoyance, and at worst a source for disenfranchisement.

Hatchets? Knock yourself out. Anyone ever hear of a felling ax? Stock up on groceries cause even with that you are going to burn some serious calories. There should not be a single price for removing a tree. Some are easy and some are a real bear. Pay accordingly. Please, if you have never done it before, pay someone. But the question of removal or not should be easy. A dead tree can fall with no wind at all and murphys law says it will do so at the most inopertune time and in a really bad direction. There are many uses for pine, I would hope that as much as possible could be salvaged, but I would like to see saftey top the list on this one.

sally, I got homeowners insurance....but it ain't worth a da**...AND the next time it come due....Farm Bureau...won't get a check....screw me once not twice

$20 bucks for a hachet? That's a GREAT idea. I mean, there are only thousands of pines to cut down and after all, we are a bunch of rednecks so what else do we have to do with our free time? I'm afraid this problem isn't something that can be solved so easily. While I think there are some great ideas circulating out there concerning what to do with the trees, the manner in which to harvest them is a little more complicated. And not everyone is phyically able to cut down even one tree in standing in their yard with a little hatchet and neither do they have the $500 bucks to drop on a good chainsaw. Any other bright ideas, anyone?

I went to cut the dead pine trees off of a piece of land I recently bought in Hancock County...the bark is already falling off the trees and you can see the bark beetle trails under the bark, but the bark beetles have long since left, as they prefer live trees; also, nearly all of them had termite infestation, and the wood is already turning soft and damp. If these trees are a good representative sample of the other dead trees referred to in this article, then it looks like Mother Nature is already taking care of the problem. Those dead trees are going to start falling very soon, probably within a few months. I would definitely not want to be in a FEMA trailer under one, when that happens.

Shoot you can buy a China made hatchet for 4 or 5 bucks at the flea market. LOL!!! Crystal...get to chopping!{SATIRE}

For all you city people who obviously know nothing about logging, please don't offer up inane suggestions such as using chains to cut down huge pine trees and you certainly should know that you do not use pine wood for fireplaces. As for using all the downed trees for lumber, a large majority are bent and twisted and can damage equipment. There's much more pulpwood available than mills can use. Maybe you should listen to what a Southern forester has to say, they are the experts, not you or FEMA.
Also, apparently the country doesn't realize that Southwest Louisiana was devasted by Hurricane Rita----and we have a lot more trees.

Several interesting comments concerning the dead pine trees. The people most informed seem to know the extent and complexity of the problem. I offer several comments:
1) insurance companies only pay a total of $500.00 for tree removal