Guest columnist says Knoxville Utilities Board needs reasonable tree-trimming policies; Knoxville, TN

Guest column: KUB needs reasonable tree-trimming policies » Knoxville News Sentinel:
For the past four years, Knoxvillians have become increasingly concerned about the Knoxville Utilities Board's tree cutting policies.
Recent public discussion has renewed the debate as to what can be done to force KUB to adopt a reasonable policy that will stop excessive tree cutting and unnecessary removal of thousands of trees and other vegetation per week, destruction of private property, reduction of property values, and permanent disfiguring of Knoxville's most beautiful trees.
KUB Board Chair J. Thomas Jones, in a guest column in the Jan. 10, News Sentinel, asked, 'Should KUB trim trees away from electric lines?' He then proceeded to repeat KUB's latest rationale for its current policies.
He asked the wrong question and ignores many issues while defending KUB's position and its spending of at least $6 million per year.

Knoxville Utililities Board (KUB) appoints citizen panel to review utility tree trimming issues; Knoxville, TN

Moxley Carmichael - KUB COMMISSIONER SWORN IN AND BOARD APPOINTS TREE TRIM POLICY REVIEW PANEL:
KUB, a municipal utility serving Knox and parts of seven adjacent counties, provides reliable electric, gas, water, and wastewater services to more than 439,000 customers.
The Board appointed a fifteen-member citizen panel to review the policies that govern the utility's vegetation management program. Members of the panel were selected to reflect a diversity of viewpoints and experience with tree-related issues. The panel includes a number of citizens who have been critical of KUB and its tree trimming policies.

‘Ugly’ trees have locals hacked off at utility pruning; Frenchs Forest, Australia

‘Ugly’ trees have locals hacked off - Local News - News Cumberland Courier:
TREES lining Kens Rd in Frenchs Forest have been cut back so severely by Energy Australia that they resemble telegraph poles, local residents say.
On Thursday contractors for the energy company hacked at trees up and down Kens Rd and surrounding streets to clear branches from the powerlines.
“They have made them look like telegraph poles,” resident Peter Tweedie said. “They’ve lopped off all the branches so they might as well have cut them down and planted new trees.”
Mr Tweedie said the work had left the street with ugly skeletons of trees.
“You would have to see it to believe it,” he said. “It is pretty unsightly and looks as though it was not done properly.”
A spokesman for Energy Australia said the work was carried out to prevent power outages caused by tree branches coming into contact with overhead power lines.

ARRA-Duke Energy project trades stately oaks for crepe myrtles under neighborhood power lines; Raleigh-Durham, NC

Bull City Rising: Duke/Gregson street tree canopy replacement starts before New Years Day:
The cherished oaks that line urban Durham's streets give near-downtown neighborhoods much of their character. But their time has been widely recognized to be coming to an end, as the trees reach the end of their natural lifespan.
And, of course, today's oaks run smack into the little problem of Duke Energy power lines, which weren't so much a concern when the trees were first planted during the Great Depression era as a WPA project.
It's fitting, then, that the economic stimulus effort of the Great Recession would come along to help replace some of these trees. (Goodness knows it's better than the trees being left to their current wacky-cutback state.)

Tree canopy goal, trees and overhead lines dominate City Manager's report to Council; Bowie, MD

City of Bowie - Weekly Status Report:
The Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) discussed a possible Urban Tree Canopy goal for the City at their November 4th Regular Meeting. After much discussion concerning the amount of tree cover removed by BGE as part of the Electric Reliability Action Plan and the high number of unclaimed resident vouchers from the BGE program, the EAC passed a motion to adopt a statement to take to City Council. The statement endorses the concept of asking BGE to provide the City all, or a portion of, unredeemed vouchers. The EAC believes the resulting pool of funds could be used to support an incentive program for residents to plant trees on their lots. The Urban Tree Canopy study completed for the City this year indicated that the tree canopy goal cannot be met on public land alone and the most potential for implementing the goal is on private land.

Toronto Hydro transforms battle between power lines and trees, looks to solutions that protect both; Toronto, Canada

Protecting a city's greenery, one branch at a time:
Trees earn their keep in the urban landscape.
'Trees can help us enjoy our urban life so much more,' says Janet McKay, executive director, Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests (LEAF).
Beyond their natural beauty, urban trees improve the quality of urban life in countless ways. Their leaves produce oxygen while removing carbon dioxide from the air, with an average tree cleaning up four to five kilograms of pollution in a year. They help prevent soil erosion and are natural habitats for birds, insects and other urban wildlife.
Trees provide privacy, add to a home's value and can lower home heating and cooling costs by up to 10%. Not surprisingly, the City of Toronto has set the goal of increasing the city's tree canopy to 30% coverage in 2020 from 18% in 2006. And Toronto Hydro Corp. is committed to helping.
'We do a yearly Earth Day tree-planting event with Toronto Hydro,' Ms. McKay says. 'More than 100 Toronto Hydro employees come out and we plant several hundred trees and shrubs. They're just amazing and are so willing and keen to help out.'
Among its other tree initiatives, the corporation, which was LEAF's first corporate sponsor 11 years ago, has planted 10,000 native trees across Toronto in partnership with the Ontario Forestry Association.
But for all their benefits, when the wind blows and the storms pound, trees can cause havoc, with fallen branches crashing into cars, homes - or worse, people. And they can bring down a power line in a flash, turning it into a live hazard on the ground, leaving homes and businesses without power.
Because of this, overhead power lines and trees have historically been at odds. In recent years, however, Toronto Hydro has been transforming these odds into opportunities for greater efficiency, public safety and healthier urban trees.

Toronto Hydro upgrades distribution lines to tree cable as part of carbon neutral strategy, reducing tree-wire conflicts; Toronto, Canada

Protecting A City's Greenery:
This transformation began in 2007, when Toronto Hydro Corp. officially embarked on a sustainability program that included becoming carbon neutral, says Blair Peberdy, the corporation's vice-president, marketing, communications and public affairs.
That year, Toronto Hydro established its carbon footprint was 156,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents and set out to identify ways to reduce it.
'Part of this [footprint] is due to line losses -- the energy that is lost between the generating stations across Ontario and the transmission lines that feed into Toronto,' Mr. Peberdy says. 'The line loss in Toronto Hydro worked out to about 3% of all the power that we buy from the grid.'
That loss was due partly to trees, so Toronto Hydro has been upgrading its distribution system as well as installing what is known as 'tree cable,' which has a thick plastic coating to protect the conductor from accidental tree contact.

Lowcountry residents allege trees needlessly "butchered, decapitated and chainsawed" by utility; James Island, SC

Lowcountry residents upset by city snipping tree canopy The Herald - Rock Hill, SC:
Utility workers say arborists helped with health plan
By Brian Hicks - The (Charleston) Post and Courier JAMES ISLAND -- James Island residents say the trees along Harbor View Road look like extras in a slasher film — they've been butchered, decapitated and chainsawed.
And they blame SCE&G for the slaughter.
Along the road, trees have been cut back at least 10 feet from power lines.
In some cases, oaks, crepe myrtles and even pecan trees have been cut into a less-than-appealing “Y” shape, as if they are perpetually dancing to the Village People.
Some people say it is downright ugly, others fear it's going to kill the trees.
“It's horrendous, and I believe there is a more conservative way to do it,” said Margaret Fabri, a local attorney. “They have ruined the canopy of these trees.”
Contractors for SCE&G have been on the island in recent weeks as part of the utility's routine trimming to keep the power lines clear.

Neighborhood Watch: Fenty Intervenes in Palisades Tree Massacre; Washington, D.C.

Neighborhood Watch: Fenty Intervenes in Palisades Tree Massacre - City Desk - Washington City Paper:
The Issue: As summer began giving way to fall, idyllic life in the Palisades was shattered by a dose of cold, cruel reality from D.C. electricity provider Pepco. To improve electrical reliability, Pepco wanted to cut down about 400 trees in the neighborhood as well as (gasp!) 16 others along a few blocks of MacArthur Boulevard.

TreeBaltimore kicks off with free trees, park tree planting under $300,000 grant; Baltimore, MD

TreeBaltimore Kicks Off With Free Trees - Baltimore News Story - WBAL Baltimore: TreeBaltimore, the city's effort to grow a tree canopy throughout the city, kicked off Saturday with Mayor Sheila Dixon, representatives from BGE and Constellation Energy and a host of other city officials and environmental activists on hand.
“TreeBaltimore is a key component of the city’s sustainability plan, and is aimed at preserving and increasing our tree cover to create a greener, healthier and more vibrant city,” said Dixon. “We believe that Baltimore has a green future. It is our responsibility to work with each other to care for this city we love so much. Constellation’s support gives us a head start on making Baltimore a greener city now and in the future.”

City and Constellation Energy partner to sponsor tree giveaway in support of TreeBaltimore; Baltimore, MD

B'More Green: Weekend tip: Free trees for B'moreans - An environmental blog for everyday living - baltimoresun.com:
The leaves may be falling like mad, but it's not too late to plant another tree. Weekend arborists who show up Saturday morning (Nov. 7) at DeWees Park in North Baltimore can pick up a free seedling, courtesy of a new partnership between the city and Constellation Energy. Red oak, willow oak, redbud and river birch can be had for the asking.
The power company has pledged to kick in $300,000 over the next three years to help increase Baltimore's tree canopy through plantings and tree maintenance in neighborhoods and at schools. TreeBaltimore, as the effort is known, is part of Mayor Sheila Dixon's Cleaner, Greener Baltimore initiative. It aims to double the city's tree canopy within 30 years.