Jeff, I almost always agree with your approach, but I have to comment that the photo of the house the ADN keeps using, and that illustrated this article, is in my neighborhood. Those Tamaracks are planted on top of an earthen berm that was created to give the owner some privacy from traffic. It is very exposed to the SE, located virtually at the mouth of the Gasline as it comes down the Upper Hillside and takes a turn to the west, and we get 100mph or greater winds here almost every year. As you know, Tamarack are shallow-rooted (they like wet areas) and without the guy wires, these trees would go over because the narrow ridge under them is made of loose soil, lacks large rocks, and lacks turf to hold everything down. In fact, many have in previous storms, so the former owner replanted and re-staked. The trees are beautiful, especially in spring and fall, and give the resident additional privacy, so I can see why they don't want all the trees to topple.