PASCAGOULA, Miss. – At 59, Sharon Moorehead, an elementary school teacher, admits that she normally leaves climbing trees to her students.

But on Wednesday, she perched herself in a small oak on the property of her neighbor, veterinarian John Battley, in an attempt to convince Battley not to cut down the approximately 25-year-old tree.

Moorehead accessed the tree by climbing a ladder she propped against her wooden fence next to the tree, which is on Battley’s property.

“My husband (Larry) was up there first, but I made him get down so I could get up there,” Moorehead said.

A controversy over property lines and whether Battley had the right to cut the tree down caused Pascagoula Building Official Steve Mitchell to intervene in the neighbors’ squabble.

“I’m not a rabble rouser,” Sharon Moorehead said.

Battley, who has lived in his home since 1973, said he called Mitchell, police and even attorneys to prove that he could get rid of the tree after Larry Moorehead allegedly “got in my face” and told Battley he “would not” cut it down.

Battley initially wanted the tree gone because it was killing the grass in his back yard and he wanted more sunshine in the area. The Mooreheads, on the other hand, say the oak’s single limb that hangs over their property provides the only shade in their back yard.

“I thought I would be generous and let them have the limb,” Battley said after the dispute was settled by Mitchell and police officers. “That’s what I would have done if they had asked nicely in the first place.”

Sharon Moorehead also argued that the oak is “part of my landscape.” Larry Moorehead, who is retired, said he was taking advantage of the shade Wednesday while he painted and prepared shutters for hurricane season.

“That’s kind of critical on a hot day like this,” he said.

The Mooreheads denied Battley’s claim of intimidation and said they still were not convinced Battley could cut the oak down, despite Mitchell’s on-site assessment.

“Legally, he can do what he wants to with it. I’m not taking sides. I’m just stating the truth,” Mitchell told Sharon Moorehead as she remained in the tree. He also recommended that she lobby for any changes to city ordinances she opposed.

The couple said they were happy with Battley’s decision Wednesday to leave the tree alone.

“I’m very grateful. (Battley’s) my hero of the day,” Sharon Moorehead said.

Battley added that before the Bramblewood Subdivision was developed, the former wooded area provided myriad species of trees, most of which were cut down to make way for the development.

Sharon Moorehead said she was “thrilled” when Battley cut down a pecan tree because it helped the current oak tree they wanted saved to grow and provide the shade they need.

“This is a lovely little oak tree,” she said.

DS END CROCKER

(Brad Crocker is a staff writer for The Mississippi Press in Pascagoula, Miss. He can be contacted at bcrocker(at)themississippipress.com.)

2007-06-28-TREE-SAVER

AP-NY-06-28-07 1645EDT