If a tree falls in the woods, is there someone around to start a lawsuit?
Posted: November 16, 2010 | Author: Recreation Law | Filed under: Uncategorized |
It’s the woods, where do you think you are?
Another person has filed a lawsuit claiming injuries from a tree that fell on them. In this case, the person was driving through the Rogue River National Forest when a tree fell and hit his truck.
He is suing the US Forest Service and a lumber company that was supposed to cut the tree down. By failing to cut the tree down, the USFS and lumber company are allegedly liable.
Trees fall over. If you don’t want to get hit by a tree, stay out of the woods.
Jack London wrote about trees falling in the woods, and I suspect that trees have been falling a lot longer than that and they will continue to fall in the future. When a tall thing no longer has support it falls over. If you don’t believe this, go to any bar where tall people drink excessively.
Please fight this one and do not settle. Unless the US Forest service and the lumber company fight this lawsuit, eventually the woods will be closed or woods will be a field. The government does not like paying out money, and it will be easy to close anyplace that has any commercial activity in it rather than deal with idiots who claim the government should have made the place safe.
See Oregon man sues over tree that fell and hurt him.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
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Recreation Law 
I disagree with your statement. There is a major difference between your front yard and the US FS land. The law recognizes that you have an obligation to keep your front yard safe. There is no such obligation upon the USFS. Even if there was, at what point do we require the USFS to stop looking for dangerous trees. 100' from the road? 100 yards, 100 miles. It is a Forest. At some point we leave the forest alone or we call it a desert.
At some point in life you have to accept some of the risk of living. If you crawl out from under your bed, you face the risk of getting hurt. Whether it is in your bathroom, the front yard the freeway to the forest or in the forest.
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I agree in a sense, Jim. But isn't the real issue the fact that the USFS and the logging company recognized that the tree was a danger and yet still hadn't removed it? If the Forest Circus wants to stand behind a policy of sustainable use, and land maintenance (as opposed to preservation and a hands off approach), shouldn't they be liable for not acting to fix a potential danger? Especially one, that was specifically pointed out to be a danger, next to a road. I don't know the facts of the case, but was this on a Forest Service road or a public road that goes through USFS land? If it's the highway scenario, then they are definitely liable, no doubt. If the tree in your front yard is rotten and you know it, but don't cut it down and it falls into the road and hurts somebody, you're liable. The next step is we just shouldn't have trees at all if nobody is meant to maintain them on public lands. Land managers are responsible for managing their land, for better or for worse for the good of the public the agency serves. Not filing this lawsuit is complacency in the face of governmental negligence. Won't they hide behind governmental immunity anyway?
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