Land of the free?

The Everett Herald ran a story today about how difficult it is to cut down a tree in Everett without finding yourself facing a fine. 

I would like to say I got all raged up after reading that piece, but instead of railing against how retardiculous the City of Everett is, I am forced to admit that roughly 3/4's of the municipalities in the U.S. probably have very similar laws and restrictions.  I mean...Everett COULDN'T have gotten this dumb on their own...

Now I have a new excuse for not doing yard work...'Sorry Honey...couldn't find the ANSI Standard for Pruning'...