The tree could have landed on us as we drove past. Somewhere in a 90-minute span, between when we drove by the spot to when our neighbor called, a tree fell across our shared driveway. Since the tree came from our property, our neighbor was asking us to remove it.
In a few moments, the top half of a 75-foot tree, an old and well-used inn and restaurant for birds and insects, snapped off without the help of wind or rain.
We generally leave snags, dead or partially dead trees, alone. No matter how they died, trees have more to give. In Washington, more than 100 species of birds, reptiles, mammals and amphibians use snags for nesting, dens, roosts, shelter and forage.
Wildlife’s favorite tree species west of the Cascades are Douglas fir and Western red cedar, but big-leaf maple and cottonwood are also used, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife website.
The most obvious users of dead or dying trees are for woodpeckers. They are the avian contractors, excavating numerous holes every year but seldom nesting in the same hole on consecutive years, leaving a range of options for those species that depend on those cavities.
Tenants can include bluebirds, swallows, chickadees, nuthatches, house wrens, wood ducks, squirrels and owls. The tree trunk provides insulation against the winter cold and a cool place during summer heat.
According to the DFW, snags more than 12 inches in diameter and 15 feet tall offer ideal hunting perches for hawks, eagles and owls. They function as resting perches for birds; food storage areas for various animals; and song perches for tanagers and flycatchers.
A snag could be looked at as a life-after-death oasis. Our fallen snag, however, brought up a safety issue. How close to the road can we allow a snag to stand? If it is 75 feet tall but 65 feet from the road, do we cut it down? When does the wait-and-see with a dying tree turn into a take-it-down moment?
Long ago we opted to leave standing a snag near our house and driveway. The odds are ridiculously low that it would fall on one of us, and we could live with our decision if the snag took out a car or a corner of the deck. We took down the minimum of trees to build the house because we wanted to leave as much of the property to the natural environment.
But we are reconsidering snags on our side of the shared private road. The easy part is to decide not to put another human being in danger, although it is not as black-and-white as one might assume. A snag that’s dead is an easier decision. What about one that’s dying and could stand for decades? What are the odds? Will other property owners along the same heavily wooded road take out their snags, too?
It feels wrong to cut them down. But it would feel worse if our snag fell on a passing car.
For more information on how to handle dead or dying trees, or creating your own snags, go to wdfw.wa.gov/living/snags.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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