Tree planting programs benefit utilities,
customers, communities
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| Utilities that would like to start tree
planting programs or increase awareness of good planting
and care practices in their communities can get help through
the National Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA
program and the American Public Power Association’s
Tree Power program. (Artwork courtesy of National Arbor
Day Foundation and American Public Power Association) |
Spring, when a utility’s
fancy turns to thoughts of…planting trees. With Arbor
Day just around the corner in most states, it’s a
good time to recall how much our leafy friends do for us and
to look at a few programs Western customers use to keep their
communities green.
There are many reasons to
plant and protect trees, but most of them fall into one of three
categories: beauty, nature and commerce. Obviously, trees are
pretty—they sooth us, shelter us and inspire awful poetry.
They are also an essential part of a healthy environment. Absorbing
carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, recharging groundwater,
protecting against erosion and providing wildlife habitat are
just a few of the purposes trees serve.
The practical advantages of
trees range from producing food and fuel to making retail and
residential spaces more inviting. Healthy, mature trees can
add up to 10 percent to a property's value.
Utility interest in trees
lays at the intersection of commercial and environmental benefits.
The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that trees
properly placed around buildings can reduce air conditioning
needs by 30 percent and can save 20 to 50 percent of energy
used for heating. Saving energy decreases peak powerplant demand,
while trees help absorb the CO2 produced by fossil fuel-burning
powerplants. It’s no wonder that both the American
Public Power Association and the National
Arbor Day Foundation encourage utilities to develop strategies
for planting and caring for trees in their service areas.
Tree Power gives utilities
tools for local action
APPA's
award-winning Tree Power program is a nationwide effort
by public power utilities to plant trees. While participating
in the national Tree Power program, utilities design their own
programs based on local resources and needs.
More than 215 APPA members, many Western customers
among them, have participated in Tree Power since it began in
1991. Participants receive a kit that includes graphics and
communication materials and resource lists for in-depth tree-planting
information, including how to implement, promote and fund a
tree-planting program. The regularly updated TREE POWER
Report offers helpful articles and tips for building programs.
At its annual national conference, APPA awards
one active Tree Power member a $2,500 grant to enhance its program,
and presents Golden Tree awards to utilities that plant one
tree per customer. The list of Western customers that are past
Golden Tree winners is a long one.
Missouri
River Energy Services joined Tree Power in 1992, offering
its member co-ops an incentive for each tree planted per electric
meter served. By 1999, the MRES program had planted 125,000
trees and earned its Golden Tree.
Nebraska Public
Power District received the award for a program that focused
on maintaining adequate clearance between trees and electric
lines. The pruning, removal and replacement program removed
trees that continually interfered with power lines, and replaced
them with shorter, slower-growing trees and shrubs wherever
possible. “It helped control an expensive and necessary
part of providing power while keeping the communities beautiful,”
said NPPD Media Specialist Jeanne
Schieffer. “We’re looking forward to promoting
more planting in the coming year,” she added.
Guidelines and training
key to protecting trees, power lines
Abundant, healthy trees sometimes seem to utilities like an
obstacle to providing reliable electric service. To show that
trees and electric service lines can peacefully co-exist, the
National Arbor Day Foundation cosponsors Tree
Line USA with the National
Association of State Foresters.
To become a Tree Line utility, a power provider
must meet three requirements: have a program of quality tree
care, provide annual worker training in quality tree care practices,
and offer a tree planting and public education program.
To help with the first requirement, the foundation
offers two references that recommend best practices. Pruning
Trees Near Electric Utility Lines: A Field Pocket Guide For
Qualified Line-Clearance Tree Workers and Trenching
and Tunneling Near Trees: A Field Pocket Guide for Qualified
Workers cover tree care methods from root to branch. “A
lot of our electrical system is underground now, and not everyone
understands that what you do to the roots can be just as damaging,
or more so, than what you take off the top,” said Colorado
Springs Utilities’ Restoration Services Section Leader
Phil Helvie.
Colorado Springs
Utilities has been recognized as a Tree Line USA utility
for nine consecutive years. “We make sure that all of
our contractors and in-house staff have both guides,”
Helvie stated.
Incentives, education encourage public
to plant wisely
The tree planting and education component of Tree Line USA gets
consumers involved in making wise planting choices that will
beautify the community while helping the utility avoid long-term
operational costs.
The best way to encourage people to plant trees, most programs
recognize, is to give them trees for free or at a reduced cost.
Riverside
Public Utilities, which participates in both Tree Line USA
and Tree Power, issues a bill credit of up to $25 per tree for
the purchase of up to five shade trees per year. Sacramento
Municipal Utility District delivers healthy trees, stakes,
ties and fertilizer at no cost to customers who promise to plant
and care for them. When CSU crews remove an obstructing tree
or shrub, customers receive a nursery voucher that includes
planting.
Programs place a lot of emphasis on planting
the right tree in the right place, and replacing varieties that
can interfere with power lines. Omaha
Public Power District planted an arboretum next to one of
its substations to show visitors what different trees look like
at different stages. “That way, people can see why they
don’t want to plant a sugar maple, for example, near a
power line because of the problems that type of tree can present,”
explained OPPD Public Information Manager Jeff
Hanson. “We also do pruning demonstrations complete
with mock lines.”
CSU created a poster for nurseries showing
the best trees for planting in areas where utility crews might
have to work. Each spring, CSU customers receive a flyer in
their bills with pruning and planting advice, and the utility
sends a letter to local landscapers reminding them to “look
up before planting trees.”
On SMUD and RPU Web sites, customers will
find lists of trees that qualify for the utilities’ incentive
programs, along with planting and care information. An instructional
video, “Planting Your Shade Tree,” is available
to SMUD customers participating in the shade tree program. Most
programs mentioned here work with area forestry experts to provide
technical assistance in positioning and caring for the trees.
Since Tree Line USA is an Arbor Day Foundation
program, all Tree Line utilities celebrate Arbor Day in their
communities. Power providers may team up with schools, garden
clubs or service organizations to sponsor seminars, poster and
essay contests and, of course, tree plantings.
Utilities don’t have to participate
in Tree Power or Tree Line USA to enjoy the benefits of strategically
planted shade trees, however. Both program Web sites give links
to resources that would be useful for developing a local program.
Nurseries and landscapers may be open to partnerships that bring
enthusiastic gardeners in the door, and university cooperative
extensions often have planting and pruning information printed
and ready to slip into billing statements. So mark Arbor Day
on your calendar and take time to hug a tree or, better yet,
plant one.
