A Senate committee approved a measure Tuesday that would allow billboard owners to cut more trees around their signs, over the objections of two state agencies and environmental groups.
Billboard owners would be allowed to remove trees and shrubs 375 feet 250 feet in front of billboards, up from 250 feet. Removing more trees would give drivers more time to see the ads, Lynn Bonner reports.
The industry has agreed, as part of the proposal, to an increase in their annual permit fees and to increased penalties for illegal cutting. The state departments of transportation and environment and natural resources opposed the bill.
The proposal comes on the heels of the state Department of Transportation discovering about 50 instances of illegal tree cutting around billboards since October, amounting to about $750,000 in lost greenery. DOT has asked the State Bureau of Investigation to look in to the illegal cutting. Discovering tree-cutting culprits is difficult because, usually, there are no eyewitnesses.
Christa Wagner, lobbyist for the state's Sierra Club chapter said giving billboard owners permission to cut more trees is "a reward for bad behavior."
The bill now goes to the Senate Finance committee.
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