Ummm … yes, it does. It’s called physics, people (note: I acknowledge my simple inference might be disputed by quantum mechanics and its persistent attempts to soothe the awkward tension between philosophy and science).
But what if thousands of trees fall all at once (perhaps during, let’s say, a hurricane)? If no one is there to analyze the data, does it make a pattern? Fortunately, here we can avoid further philosophical entanglement because … in the weeks following Hurricane Helene, someone did collect tree failure data across Buncombe County and the patterns are emerging.
AT THE JUNE SALON, ascend our urban forest canopy with master arborist April Wilson to survey the damage wrought by hurricane Helene. April is an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Board Certified Master Arborist and also maintains Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ). She has been a production climber and sales arborist in and around Asheville for nearly a decade, and runs her own company, Stump Sprouts Tree Consulting, providing complex removals, structural pruning, and strategies to maximize and amplify tree health.