Update: Washington man cuts down neighbor's 100-year-old tree, causing thousands of dollars in damages

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 2, 2026 3:15 PM EDT

An opportunistic neighbor has left a huge mess on someone else's property. 

Washington state is full of trees, and people travel from all over the world to get out in nature. The whole PNW is known for just that — sprawling acres of ferns, and thousands of trees, many of which are hundreds of years old. 

However, thanks to the audacity of this person's neighbor, there is one less old tree soaking up the sunlight. As this person shared, their father's passing led this neighbor to take action to get rid of a tree, but the whole interaction has turned into a total "disaster," as they put it.

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  • Log cabin home surrounded by river and massive trees in Washington state.
    via Holly Landkammer

    Log cabin home surrounded by river and massive trees in Washington state.

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Parents neighbor fell 100 year old tree after d--th - admits it, and thinks he's in the clear. Please help! (WA State)

    My dad d d Jan 2024. Their house is in the country-country (think Olympic Nation Forest adjacent, because it is). I grew up there but live a number of states away. In March 2025, a neighbor in this tiny town called me out of nowhere to tell me someone had
    via mybluecouch
  • cut a massive sitka spruce down and felled it into my parents front yard. They told me that it happened in the middle of the night (think 2-3 am) and it looked like it was being limbed and cut up for removal, as we spoke. I was in shock.
    via mybluecouch

  • Here's this 100-year-old tree before the neighbor seized the chance to fell it

    Cheezburger Image 10628476672
    via mybluecouch

    Man, it's a beauty, too! This situation is unfortunate… it's not like a 100-year-old tree will regrow overnight. Even if the neighbor planted a new tree today, the beneficiary would be his grandkids. 

  • Not as much shock as I felt once I saw the tree. An old friend's parents went and took pics for me that day. I started to panic. We guestimated the tree was approx five or so feet at base, maybe 100 feet long. It was (is) now on or nearly on my parents septic tank or field. It was well over 50 percent on my parents
    via mybluecouch
  • side of the property line (later confirmed by an expensive survey that of course, I had to pay for). The entire situation is a disaster. I started calling, texting, anything I could to suss out who did it. These creeps even had the audacity to leave behind their
    via mybluecouch
  • working tools, wedges, pull chain, fuel clearly, it was someone who knew how to do it, as in actual logging, know how. Finally, after lots of digging, I found out who - a couple of guys who live right next door; they rent. I looked up the owner. Called and texted, many times,
    via mybluecouch

  • Here's one of the photos they shared

    Cheezburger Image 10628471552
    via mybluecouch

    It's a bit hard to see in the darkness, but… my goodness, what a mess. 

  • Just look at it!

    Cheezburger Image 10628472064
    via mybluecouch

    You can see it more clearly here. There are tree branches of all sizes strewn across the property. 

  • :(

    Cheezburger Image 10628471808
    via mybluecouch

  • These people sound like the worst! They left their tools behind along with all the mess? What??

    no response. Finally, I talked to the guys who did it, and their story was "your dad said we could" and that the owner said to do it. Mind you, my dad d d over a year before this. They never once tried to contact me, nor did the owner. They just did what they wanted, and thought if they cut it in the middle of the night,
    via mybluecouch
  • and cleaned it up, I'd never know (if I didn't have good people nearby that called, I certainly would have noticed the tree was missing, but they hoped I wouldn't be back anytime soon to do something about it). No one said sorry. They were like, what did we do wrong? They told me some story about roots growing
    via mybluecouch
  • under their building. (Ok, but that didn't happen overnight, and they still have to contact me, assuming it's even true.) I told these guys and the owner I have an attorney and they'd be in touch. That's literally the only thing that got the owner to respond to me, saying he had no idea what I was talking about.
    via mybluecouch
  • Obviously, I sent pics. Still played dumb. He initially kept saying he had "no clue" but eventually, he admits (repeatedly, and in text), that yes, they did it, he doesn't see anything wrong with it; and, when my attorney called him, he said he thought I was "bullshitting" about having one, laughed, and told the attorney
    via mybluecouch
  • "we'll clean it up and rake her yard...that should do it." Unreal. That was over a year ago now. Once he (owner) finally responded to me last March, he spent April and May contacting me persistently, telling me that I need to "let them clean it up" telling me "these guys are
    via mybluecouch
  • Trees growing on a mountainside in Washington state.
    via Pavł Polø

    Trees growing on a mountainside in Washington state. 

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • professionals and know what they're doing" and was sarcastic, condescending, even hostile. (For example, after I told him many times in text not to step foot on the property, do not touch the tree, contact the attorney), he dug in harder sending nasty texts like, "What is it that you want?" telling me talk
    via mybluecouch
  • like he's slow and so forth. Røde communication, attitude, general awfulness. I finally told him (again) to not contact me outside of our attorneys (and had told him to speak to one of his own, many times prior); he invoked my Dad, saying in various ways "he said we could" and variations of such statements - this guy never -
    via mybluecouch
  • met my dad. He finally stopped. (I'm guessing someone told him, you're cooked, get quiet, but IDK?) Anyways: - Since this whole thing started, I've had to get a pricey, rural survey (which showed that the base is indeed 60" across, and
    via mybluecouch
  • the length is 97 feet, though they can't estimate age or value, and did me a solid by even including the tree info on the survey). -- Survey shows tree is well over our property line (regardless, they fell it in our yard, so there is damage).
    via mybluecouch
  • - I've had to bone up on the timber trespass law, and as far as I can tell it's pretty clear cut that the landlord is on the hook. Treble.
    via mybluecouch
  • - I have asked around on my own to find a grader or arborist to at least get valuation, before final cleanup, and in order to file. Have had an awful time getting anyone to talk to me or help. So that hasn't happened. (My attny has been of zero help in this regard, either. I'm starting to think this is a small town politics situation, but IDK.)
    via mybluecouch
  • - I've had to spend thousands to clean up and remove as much of the limbs and slash as I could, without removing the tree. (The cutters made mass piles of limbs and slash in the yard - see pics.)
    via mybluecouch
  • - I have no idea if the drain field is f'd, or the septic. (Because i had been working on the interior of the house, I currently have no water or toilets. I'm afraid to mess with it now, can't see underneath til the tree is removed.)
    via mybluecouch
  • - I recently ran into the guy who cut the tree down, while out at the house, and told him (also for the half dozenth time), don't come over here, don't touch it, don't do anything - after he asked if he could come get his cables and pull chain out of the yard. As an aside, I told him very pointedly that what they did
    via mybluecouch
  • was wrong, illegal, and he tried to argue, saying he was a forest service surveyor and cutter back in the day, blah blah. I told him the remainder of the story surrounding my dad's death, as well as that another parent had also d d only a month after my dad; I told him of the extreme stress and problems this has
    via mybluecouch
  • caused me. He then said he wants to "make amends" and keeps reaching out about it on text now. He also has tried telling me he'll "clean it up and sell the wood" offering me half the money, as if it's a favor. Ugh. I told him, the landlord/owner is ultimately the real problem and responsible party -- the tree
    via mybluecouch

  • When other people are warning you that someone is a "strange guy," you can go ahead and let the lawyers deal with that

    cutter guy told me, and I quote, "he's a real strange guy...not easy to communicate or deal with...he's going to try to make things hard for you" and I told him, good luck, I have the texts from them and contact with an atty. Let him try.
    via mybluecouch

    It's what they're paid to do anyway! May as well make the neighbor talk to them instead so things don't escalate further. 

  • - My atty is pretty slack, did nothing more than a phone call to the owner over that last year, until I started pressuring him. Now, he suddenly wants to file on the owner, but hasn't offered up a single suggestion on who/how to value the tree, etc (I asked, repeatedly). He tried sending me the docs with made-up valuation
    via mybluecouch
  • Forest of large old trees in the PNW.
    via Getty Images

    Forest of large old trees in the PNW. 

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • numbers (and IMO, errors, missing data, etc), which I rejected. -- Anyways, probably hard to believe, but there's even more to the story - these are the highlights (lowlights?).
    via mybluecouch
  • - Seems I'm in purgatory. The stress is eating at me. The time is ticking. As personal representative for the "estate" (read: old house with a mortgage and a lot of problems) I have no living siblings, grandparents, etc., but can't even move forward with transferring the home or anything until this is handled. I'm doing
    via mybluecouch
  • everything above board, by the book, and I just want this over so I can move forward. If you made it this far, thanks for listening. A - Any advice, including contact info for tree graders, arborists, anything you think might help,
    via mybluecouch
  • please feel free to comment or DM me. We're past a year since this started, the tree is still in the front yard, all cut up, and it's devastating. What is wrong with people?
    via mybluecouch

  • That's a great way to go! They'll know what to do.

    Update 1: Spoke to an Arborist, and they're going to check it out next week. Will report back on that and other changes as they occur.
    via mybluecouch

  • People had some good advice for this person! Suggestion #1? Get a new attorney, because this dude is really dragging his feet. 

     

    Help_meToo

    Get a new attorney.

     


    Ellyemem

    If you look for law firms specializing in trees and property, they are likely to see this as a potentially sizable case and could actually assist you in getting a certified arborist to estimate the value of the tree.

     

    miIk-skin

    He also has tried telling me he'll "clean it up and sell the wood" offering me half the money

    My partner is a forester, specifically managing large scale sitka spruce plantations, and I showed him your pics and asked what the value of the wood would be when sold, and he actually just laughed. 

    According to him because this guy has cut the wood into "non-standard product lengths" he has rendered it effectively worthless. Says it's basically either chip or 100 year old firewood now, which is even more pointless as he says nobody burns sitka. 

    Sorry op. Can't understand why their endgame was in this.

  • Man stands high in the air, preparing to cut down a tree.
    via Getty Images

    Man stands high in the air, preparing to cut down a tree. 

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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