Landowner Bugged by Loss of Trees Loses Case

A landowner who sued the government for cutting down 25 of his trees without his permission had his suit thrown out by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Dec. 4.

George Evans sued the Department of Agriculture, which removed the trees as part of a quarantine order to prevent infestation by the Asian Longhorn Beetle.

“A small bug” incited this case, Judge Bruce M. Selya wrote for the court in an opinion peppered with references to songs by the Beatles.

The beetle is, however, “one of the most destructive” invasive species to enter the United States, ...