I was up there (in the orchard) about a month ago and the trees seemed ok from the look of things.
Part of the slow progress on the exemption was the old road North through the neighbor's place. There's 5 families who co-own that property and it took a committee vote to deny my use of it. Their easement was at the mercy of another land owner, which made them sympathetic to my situation, but they ended up buying another lot their access crossed and that gave some family members an attitude change. Until that door was officially closed, I couldn't qualify for the permanent exemption, so I never filed for it.
They have no problems with me using that road for atv's and cars, but it's barely 6' wide, so trucks are a no-go without significant cutting. Truck traffic, fire trucks, EMS - none of them can access the site now.
I ended up fighting a frozen septic system today, but will resume working on the swamp road tomorrow. Our weather is wonderful now (mid 30's), so working in the woods is a treat.