>Neighborhood gossip says that the owners "got permission"
>to top the tree. Is this likely? If so, from whom? How can this
>be checked? Are eagles still a factor in land use decisions?

I don't know about the laws in Washington; but in Oregon my experience has
been that the owner of the land can do anything he wants with trees. I
learned this by trying to save some ancient huge chestnut trees in my
neighborhood. By the way, topping of trees is considered a real no-no. All
it does is encourage disease and insect infestation. The topped tree is
probably doomed to slow death or will blow down in a future wind storm
anyway.

John Shelton
Portland, Oregon
johns at uma.ohsu.uma