But when city and county governments extend their protective reach to individual trees ?EUR??,,????'??+ limiting what landowners can or cannot do to trees on their property ?EUR??,,????'??+ consensus evaporates fast.

What trees are worth protecting? Should government step in to nix your landscaping plan or home expansion to save a tree? Sometimes, the arguments can split neighborhoods, touched off by a single tree.

“That’s my tree. It’s in your yard, but it’s my tree,” said Atlanta City Councilman Howard Shook, describing a frequent conflict in many older neighborhoods like his Buckhead district.

Shook supported revisions this week that soften the city’s tough tree ordinance, after weighing criticism that it was too hard to take down a tree. Most metro Atlanta governments have established tree ordinances, designed to protect a natural feature that has a direct, tangible environmental benefit. But there is little consistency among policies.

In Atlanta, the City Council approved an amendment Monday limiting the number of people who can challenge a homeowner’s request to remove a tree. Shook, a six-year councilman, said he knows of homeowners who are afraid their trees will fall but who have been prevented from removing them.