Trees as assets

Here's an interesting story from WRAL about stolen/lost/damaged state property:

http://www.wral.com/news/local/wral_investigates/story/6999284/

Buried within is this:

"Yet another high dollar loss for the state comes from damaged property. For the Department of Transportation, much of that damage happens on the side of the road. 'Trees are considered as assets,' said DOT engineer Ted Sherrod. The DOT has reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in tree losses, mostly from businesses clearing around signs in the right of way. 'We'll have about as many as 50 cases a year,' Sherrod said."

Good to hear that DOT considers trees assets. Let's hope they start treating them that way.