Stump counts, drone photos, and the survey: building the record early

Liability in a tree case is usually settled by a survey. Damages are settled by what the record shows was standing before the saw arrived. That second part is where cases are quietly lost — because the evidence disappears fast.

Cleanup crews haul stumps. Grading erases the ground. Neighbors regrade, replant, and move on. Within a few weeks the physical proof of a $200,000 loss can be a bare lot and a memory.

The first 48 hours

Before anything else, the property owner should be told one thing: do not clean up. Then capture, in this order:

1. Wide photographs of the cleared area from multiple fixed points — the street, the house, the neighbor's side — showing the surviving canopy for scale.
2. A stump inventory. Each stump photographed with a tape measure across the cut face, numbered with spray paint or a flag, and located on a rough sketch.
3. Debris and logs. If the cut trees are still on site, photograph the trunks. Log length and diameter support both species identification and valuation.
4. Drone imagery if available. An overhead frame showing the cleared strip against the property line is the single most persuasive exhibit these cases produce.

The survey

If the boundary has not been surveyed recently, commission one now, with instructions to locate each stump relative to the line. The surveyor's stake map does two jobs: it establishes ownership of each tree, and it fixes how far past the line the cutting went — a willfulness fact.

The appraisal

A consulting arborist should inspect while the stumps are intact. Species, trunk diameter, condition, and location all feed the valuation, and all are easier to establish from a fresh stump than from a photograph six months later. Ask for a written report using a recognized method (trunk formula, cost of cure, or both).

Before-and-after

Pull whatever shows the trees standing: listing photos from the last sale, county aerial imagery, Google Street View history, the owner's own phone. Dated imagery of the canopy is the anchor for every later argument about what was lost.

Why this is what we screen for

A case file that arrives with a survey, a stump count, dated photographs, and an appraisal is one the defendant's carrier cannot argue away on the facts. That is the standard we apply before a case is listed — and it is why the cases on the shelf tend to resolve rather than litigate.

Not legal advice. Evidence practices should be adapted to the jurisdiction and the facts.