The residential forest provides many amenities to communities, including aesthetics, air quality improvement, and higher property values. However, the residential forest may also contribute human-perceived problems or disamenities including allergens, leaf debris, infrastructure damage, and maintenance costs. Vegetation management by utility companies along power lines is one process that shapes the residential forest. Property owners’ decisions to consent or object to utility vegetation management may be influenced by perceived tree amenities and disamenities. To explore this decision-making process, we conducted 32 one-on-one semi-structured qualitative interviews with resident-homeowners who consented or objected to a utility company tree removal on their property between 2014 and 2017. The study area included several towns in eastern Connecticut, USA, representing urban, suburban, and exurban residential areas. We applied the means-end chain theory as a theoretical framework, and used laddering interviews to explore the tree amenities, disamenities, and values associated with trees. Attractiveness, shade, and privacy were the most frequently identified amenities of trees; risk to power lines, trees being dead or diseased, and risk to people were the most frequently identified disamenities. Amenities and disamenities were connected to such values as happiness and enjoyment, closeness to nature, comfort, pride in one’s home, aesthetics, life, avoiding harm to others, and time or money for other priorities. Participants who objected to utility tree removals primarily identified tree amenities as reasons to retain the trees, whereas participants who allowed tree removals primarily identified disamenities as reasons for their decision. The most common reason for objecting to removal was uncertainty about the need for removal. Participants had diverse perceptions of how tree amenities and disamenities affected their potential consent to utility vegetation management, illustrating that the priorities and concerns of individual residents are important considerations for forest managers and arborists engaged in vegetation management on private property.

住宅森林为社区提供了许多便利设施，包括美学、空气质量改善和更高的财产价值。然而，住宅森林也可能导致人类感知的问题或缺陷，包括过敏原、树叶碎片、基础设施损坏和维护成本。公用事业公司沿电力线进行植被管理是塑造住宅森林的一个过程。业主同意或反对公用设施植被管理的决定可能会受到感知的树木设施和缺陷的影响。为了探索这一决策过程，我们对 2014 年至 2017 年期间同意或反对公用事业公司在其财产上移除树木的居民进行了 32 次一对一的半结构化定性访谈。研究区域包括美国康涅狄格州东部的几个城镇，代表城市、郊区和远郊住宅区。我们应用手段-目的链理论作为理论框架，并使用阶梯式访谈来探索与树木相关的树木的便利性、缺陷和价值。吸引力、阴凉和隐私是最常被识别的树木设施。电线风险、树木死亡或患病以及对人的风险是最常见的问题。舒适性和不舒适性与幸福和享受、亲近自然、舒适、对家的自豪感、美学、生活、避免伤害他人以及用于其他优先事项的时间或金钱等价值观有关。反对移除公用树的参与者主要将树木设施视为保留树木的原因，而允许砍伐树木的参与者主要将异质性作为他们决定的原因。反对移除的最常见原因是不确定是否需要移除。参与者对树木设施和障碍如何影响他们对公用植被管理的潜在同意有不同的看法，这说明个体居民的优先事项和关注点是从事私有财产植被管理的森林管理者和树艺者的重要考虑因素。