What could possibly go wrong?
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They imported Pohutakawa trees from New Zealand as well, only to discover (three decades later) that poorly-maintained leaking waterpipes, plus coastal trees with water-seeking root systems, are a bad combination.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/4073469/San-Franciscos-pohutukawa-curse
We warned you not to let them get wet or feed them after midnight, but did you listen?
How I imagine San Francisco:
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Regular maintenance and monitoring is part of, you know, managing parkland. There will still be the occasional falling branch but you can reduce the risk of falling snags and the danger caused by lopping off all the suspect limbs.
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Okay, Iâll concede that the knife monkey project has gotten a little out of hand, but weâre pretty sure we can keep them under control with laser ocelots
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So now weâre at the point where you perceive that your argument has been refuted, but youâre too invested it in to admit that, so you switch to shouting angry gibberish.
What are you gaining here? How does this benefit you?
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I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
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Then perhaps he should sue God or Mother Nature. Shit happens. Act of God is insurance speak. Heâll lose.
Shit doesnât happen when trees should be managed and someone failed to do that. If it is found that there was a known risk that these things could fall and that there should have been a tree surgeon come round and remove them safely, then he will win.
My first thought was, âWow, this one hell of a freak accident, and it must be one mutant tree. Guy shouldnât be suing, though. Shit happens.â
Then I read the article:
Bunya pines are not indigenous to the area, the lawsuit notes, and the trees in question are thought to have been planted by park staff years ago. Their seedpods, or pine cones, can grow to enormous sizes, reaching nearly 16 inches in diameter and weighing up to 40 pounds.
Theyâre from Australia, for cripessake. Where everything is trying to kill you. If he was Australian and in Australia, fine. Then he should have known better. Based on the same principal that I would not be prepared to encounter an anaconda deliberately placed by park staff, I wouldnât be prepared to contend with this frikken thing. Bird shits on me? Bad Luck. Rattlesnake bite? Bad luck. Dangeroud non-indigenous species being introduced by park staff? Accident waiting to happen.
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From Terry Pratchettâs The Last Continent:
Death held out a hand, I WANT, he said, A BOOK ABOUT THE DANGEROUS CREATURES OF FOURECKSâ
Albert looked up and dived for cover, receiving only mild bruising because he had the foresight to curl into a ball.
After a while Death, his voice a little muffled, said: ALBERT, I WOULD BE SO GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD GIVE ME A HAND HERE.
Albert scrambled up and pulled at some of the huge volumes, finally dislodging enough of them to allow his master to clamber free.
HMM . . . Death picked up a book at random and read the cover.
DANGEROUS MAMMALS, REPTILES, AMPHIBIANS, BIRDS, FISH, JELLYFISH, INSECTS, SPIDERS, CRUSTACEANS, GRASSES, TREES, MOSSES, AND LICHENS OF TERROR INCOGNITA, he read. His gaze moved down the spine. VOLUME 29C, he added. OH. PART THREE, I SEE.
He glanced up at the listening shelves. POSSIBLY IT WOULD BE SIMPLER IF I ASKED FOR A LIST OF THE HARMLESS CREATURES OF THE AFORESAID CONTINENT?
They waited.
IT WOULD APPEAR THATâ
âNo, wait, master. Here it comes.â
Albert pointed to something white zigzagging lazily through the air. Finally Death reached up and caught the single sheet of paper.
He read it carefully and then turned it over briefly just in case anything was written on the other side.
âMay I?â said Albert. Death handed him the paper.
ââSome of the sheep,ââ Albert read aloud. âOh, well. Maybe a week at the
seasideâd be better, then.â
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âIf it is found that there was a known risk that these things could fallâŚâ Youâre kidding right? Itâs a farking pine cone!
Theyâve been managing themselves for hundreds of thousands of years. Long before we came along. If it fell on his car or dog is that a lawsuit? What if it was a coconut off a palm tree? Perhaps he should stay inside. I fear for the local beekeepers if heâs allergic to bee stings. I regret the manâs misfortune but it is what it is. Shit most definitely does happen. You seriously expect inspectors to climb every tree in the park of that species to inspect them? What if they miss one? Whoâs gonna pay for this? Were there no âWatch out for falling pine cone signsâ? If I go in the ocean and drown or am bitten by a shark, who do I sue? Does it matter if there was a lifeguard on duty? How about a sign tha says âNo life guard on dutyâ or âswim at your own risk !â What if it was Island Beach State Park? Frankly, having spent quite a bit of time in the woods, I think I would have heard a 16# pine cone crashing down through the branches. If it were very low, it would be plainly visible to one who is presumably admiring the trees. Heâll lose. If not for the severity of the injury, the whole thing would be considered trifling.
In order:
1.) No. Thatâs probably not a necessary measure. Taking a wide angle look through a telescope could work too. Or you know, knowing about the risks and cool stuff about the tree from the other side of the planet. And keep that in mind when planting and developing around it.
1a) See 1. If they missed a tree, itâs gotta be a believable accident.
2.) It wouldnât matter. Whoeverâs responsible. But in this case, likely the government, since theyâre the ones who both planted, and are responsible for the trees. Since itâs a public park. Yes, I know we all pay for it. Thatâs one of the reasons we hold them responsible, since we are the government, we should keep ourselves to higher standards than total negligence.; yes, there were no warning signs about skull-crushingly heavy seed-bearing tree organs specifically evolved to fall off the tree in large numbers. If the park management had done itâs due diligence, it would have at the very least put up a sign to the effect of âMassive falling pineconesâ.
3.) I suppose you get pissed off every time you see avalanche warning signs, or falling rock signs, or signs warning about electric fences too, huh? No, they didnât have signage. So they appear to have not cared about springing this risk on people.
Those trees arenât there on accident. They arenât on this fucking continent by accident. Someone put them there. Essentially setting a booby trap that nobody on this continent has a reasonable expectation of knowing about.
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{Paul Hogan] That is not a pine cone. THATâs a pine cone. [/Paul Hogan]
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As per TFA, no, apparently not. Hence the lawsuit.
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WHAT? Itâs much more fun to argue when everyone is ignorant about the actual background story.
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Of course, it doesnât help when the BB article fails to mention some of the more pertinent facts, but then weâve also been told multiple times that BB isnât a ânewsâ site.
RTFS is also cheating. Not as bad as RTFA, but still. The highest form of artistry is answering without RTFC 
Shit happens in a forest. Shit does not happen in a urban park in a city.
The fact that they have warning signs up now and a fence to prevent this happening again means that the park/city/whoever, also agree that this should not happen in a park in a city.
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babbling a bunch of gibberish doesnât mean my argument has been refuted.
sf parks and rec is already underfunded: http://sfbay.ca/2015/01/15/city-parks-brighten-budget-forecast/
how do you propose they add âtree monitoring via telescopeâ (which is a ridiculous idea altogether) to their current list of responsibilities? it seems everyone here expects the city to have infinite resources to handle every potential that might be an issue sometime in the future.
this has apparently not been an issue in the many years since the trees were planted. as ratel pointed out, the eucalyptus trees are also non-native to california. iâm sure there are many others. so while weâre at it, letâs just remove every non-native species of everything from california. iâm sure there will never be another incidence of anything falling on anyoneâs head, and weâll all live happily ever after.
if you canât handle the risk of being outside, stay inside, where you can control everything. of course if thereâs an earthquake, you can probably sue whomever built your house, as they should have known it was on a fault line and didnât warn you.
