The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided it will no longer force local levee agencies to choose between keeping trees on their levees and losing federal money for disaster assistance. On Monday, the Army Corps announced in a new “interim” policy that it will not disqualify levees that fail to meet its maintenance criteria from receiving disaster relief funding, essentially granting a reprieve to thousands of miles of California riverside habitat. The move appears to resolve, for now, a long-running policy dispute that pitted the state of California against the powerful federal flood-control agency/Sacramento Bee. More here. H/T: Kootenai Environmental Alliance

DFO: Sounds like good news for the Dike Road and the city of Coeur d'Alene. However, this whole controversy might have been a wake-up call for the city to trim a number of trees & bushes from the Dike Road, to improve tree health and even vista. What do you think?