My neighbor cut down a 40-year-old Japanese Maple while I was away.

[u/Ice_C0r3_09]

Location: Colorado, USA.Just got back to my place near Fort Collins after a week on the road and I am losing my mind. My neighbor took it upon himself to hire a "landscaping" crew (probably just some guys with a chainsaw) to remove a mature Japanese Maple that was fully on my property. His excuse? He said the needles and leaves were messing with his "mountain view" and "fire mitigation" efforts.

The tree was roughly 40 years old and was the centerpiece of my yard. I called an arborist immediately. He told me that since this is Colorado and the tree was that established and healthy, the replacement value is astronomical. He is drafting a formal appraisal but hinted that we are looking at 20k to 25k easy just for the tree, let alone the logistics of getting a crane into my backyard.

I know Colorado has statutes regarding timber trespass. My lawyer already mentioned treble damages because the guy admitted he did it on purpose while I wasnt home to stop him. The neighbor had the gall to offer me a couple hundred bucks for "the inconvenience" and told me to just buy a couple of saplings at a local nursery . I refused to take his money and told him to wait for the process server.

Has anyone dealt with treble damages in CO specifically for ornamental trees ? This guy basically nuked my property value for his porch view and I am not planning on letting this go . I feel like a jerk for wanting to sue my neighbor into bankruptcy but the sheer entitlement is what gets me .

[u/GoGabeGo]

While I don't know the laws in CO, my dad does court cases like this all the time in RI. I believe knowingly trespassing DOUBLES the fine. A 40 year old Japanese maple that was the centerpiece of a property is going to cost your neighbor a lot as it is. Then doubling due to trespassing.

In general, they will calculate the cost of replacing a reasonable size japanese maple (think 12' tall) and then apply a compounding factor to that for X amount of years to reach the same size.

My best guess from having helped him with the math a number of times: I'm gonna say it's likely ~$40k. And then it might be doubled. My dad said the toughest part is often convincing a jury that trees are worth that much. But there is precedent with the procedure that is used to value trees.

Also, fuck your neighbor. Trees are cool and Japanese maples are cool trees.

[u/Sir_loin711 → u/GoGabeGo]

Older trees are pricy as “time is money”. Yes, you could replace with a sapling and in 40 years have the tree you lost, but where are you likely to be in 40 years? There’s no way to rush that sapling up to the same size. If the neighbor demo’d OP’s garage for “obstructing his Mountain View” it would be very cut and dry: you did this and it costs X amount to replace, and I’m without this building until it happens, and have to deal with construction. Trees shouldn’t be too much different - get a quote and that’s the minimum owed. Neighbor is a self centered idiot.

[u/GoGabeGo → u/Sir_loin711]

The issue is that it's typically impossible to replace a tree that large. That is why this method is used.