A backyard tree worth $40k?

This is an example of government at its most…perplexing. Saratoga County officials are working to “condemn” a backyard pine tree in Ballston Spa.

Why? Because the 80-foot high pine sticks up into the flight path of the local airport, causing problems for night landings.

One proposed solution? Pay the homeowner $40,000 to cut the tree down. What does that come out to per board foot, I wonder?

So far, the homeowners have declined to sell.

This from the Glens Falls Post Star:

County officials first sought access to the land about a year ago, when the FAA identified 16 trees around the airport as too tall to allow night landings.

Neighboring property owners granted the county access to their land, and all the other trees have been cut down within the last year.

I’m not sure what I think about this. If everybody wrings every possible penny out of government, where does that leave us?

On the other hand, those folks might just REALLY love that tree.