Update...the village said there aren't any ordiances against planting trees under powerlines. They said that is regulated by the power company and they get copies of the plans, including landscaping...so its up to them to argue anything.

Whoever installed the trees should be shot on site.

We have trees that have those huge holes cut in them to make room for power lines all over town. I prefer to think of them as comic relief...

Maybe you could lobby your town council for an ordinance to prevent this In the future. You might call you local newspaper- documenting trees like that could be a great photojournalism essay and they could add an educational side bar to teach people to think before planting

They should be shot on sight on the site.

Nonetheless, this is my malfunction with LArchs and designers. This is what happens when you don't have regulations. It'll look cr*ppy in 10 years and people will be mad.

Dan

I had to do a double take....you bet sight on the site!

I would like to do something here. My next step is to contact WE Energies.

In my town they prune the trees around lines. We still have power outages related to wind/trees/power lines, but I'd hate to think what the town would look like if every tree growing near a power line were removed. In some sections of town they've begun to bury the lines, so the trees that were butchered during the previous era are starting to recover.

I'm in favor of planting smaller trees near power lines, and that seems to be the position of many cities and power companies. It's easier to prune a 25' tree around a 20' line than an 80' tree around the same line.

Did you decide whether you wanted to shoot the landscaper on sight or on site? What if he never returns to the site?

This is a big problem.

The city I live in planted Willow oaks beneath the powerlines some years ago and they've finally grown to the size where they're getting close. Someone came in and completely halved the canopies as if King Kong took a giant machete to the trees. I've never seen a topping job quite this bad, yet so precisely bad. Maybe the butchers get paid by the branch?

In other places I've lived, they selectively prune the tree into a wishbone shape but that may just be common practice in areas that are not prone to ice storms or areas where the average IQ is above 28.

I'm thinking of posting some signs up on the trees that say something to the effect of "This is what happens when you plant a tree under a powerline"

I vote for putting lines underground! The newer part of our neighborhood has underground lines. Unfortunately, we have above ground wires and can't get the city to change it. Too bad. The neighborhood looks so much better without telephone poles and wires.

If I had a dime for every tree that is still - to this day - planted by dumb*sses under power lines Bill Gates and me would be duking it out for most-funded foundation.

Dan

I take it back these Maples are within 5' of the powerline...and these trees where just planted early fall last year...so wrong.

I've seen the wishbone effect as well...how ugly...just cut the dang thing down!

There is a WRONG place for every tree lol.

Good catch on finding one of them.

How about asking the gas station owner who did the landscaping. Then call that company and tell them you're going to suggest to every municipal authority that the company gets put on some kind of watch list where they need a permit to plant trees. Go the whole 9 yards and tell the landscapers you're sick of your tax dollars being redistributed to like welfare to cut down trees they plant.

Might not do any good this time, but next you never know.

"They should be shot on sight on the site"

Not a good idea . . . that would just fertilise the trees, make them grow faster and hit the wires earlier . . .

;-)

In my town, they planted bur oak, shumard oak, live oak, lacebark elm and bald cypress under or near power lines everywhere. Maybe I should contact my town and ask about it.

In the nearby town when I drove through the oldest part of the town and saw all of really old trees where the whole side by power line is completely pruned off, leaving the other side towards the houses...

It's the gas station owner's land and really nobody else's business what was planted, except maybe the power company, which will just cut them down later anyway. That said, could be the owner is completely oblivious to what will happen in a few years (it's not unusual). You might ask them if there was a reason for not planting bushes/small trees that won't interfere with the lines in a few years, or if it is a chain gas station, the corporate specs probably called for trees and the landscaper just did what they were told, thinking they would get to come back in a few years to replace them with something reasonable. After asking, just sit back and enjoy watching the light come on. If the landscaper selected the plantings, there is probably still time to go back to them for incompetence and get something else planted.

Otherwise, just sit back and enjoy the coming show!

Contact your Wisconsin Urban Forestry organization. You should be able to talk to someone who can send you some information regarding street trees, etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wisconsin Urban Forestry link

It's the gas station owner's land and really nobody else's business what was planted, except maybe the power company, which will just cut them down later anyway.

This is often not true wrt the power co will likely have an easement under their lines and may have restrictions thereupon. It is a cost for the power co to maintain clearance.

But yes, the station owner may very well be ignorant or not care or both, and on private property, esp small business, I doubt they will rip up and replace with a suitable spp.

Dan

Property owners who plant or allow planting of trees under the lines or in the easements should be either billed or have the amount added to their property taxes whenever trimming/removal is needed to protect the lines.

"It's the gas station owner's land and really nobody else's business what was planted, except maybe the power company,"

I disagree respectfully due to the socialist aspect of tree trimming by power companies.

When the power company comes by and cuts back trees away from their lines here they typically don't charge the land owner. Its still not free though, the power company pays for the crews out of the money paid in everyone's bills.

So in effect the poor planting choice is costing all the other customer's money. This makes stupid choices in planting all our problems.

Something like if I just went walking down the highway with a jackhammer breaking up the pavement it would be wasting the tax dollars you and everyone else spend on road maintenance.

Its still not free though, the power company pays for the crews out of the money paid in everyone's bills...
So in effect the poor planting choice is costing all the other customer's money. This makes stupid choices in planting all our problems.

This is an aside, but related:

In our country, we still allow many activities on private land even though it may affect common goods. That is what we do. In this particular case, we let the private property owner do their thing. Yes, our bills go up slightly as a consequence of allowing private property rights to dictate dumb actions on private land (don't bring this up this way to your far-right friends).

So. Several years ago the Private Property Rights movement took their failed campaign from DC to the states, and sought to expand rights on private property, to include effectively repealing zoning. It failed miserably, and it was easy to defeat their campaign (it did not take very long to make folks understand the implications of the initiatives). The public meetings had excellent discussions from both sides, but the PPR movement didn't stand a chance.

The point being is that most people understand private property and generally accept that things like this happen, and are willing to have laws on the books that restrict action, but not too much action. And we as a society work to keep it pretty much as is and generally we are happy with the status quo.

So.

If the power company needs to spend too much money to maintain poorly-sited trees, they will pass more costs to us, a limit will be reached, we will say something, and they'll do something.

You can't legislate that everyone must be intelligent and do their homework on every subject. It just can't be done. If the power company wants to charge them, they will. Otherwise they must think the absorbed costs are below equilibrium.

[/deep land use philosophy]

Dan

"In some sections of town they've begun to bury the lines, so the trees that were butchered during the previous era are starting to recover."

Now the whole things will blow over because they severed the roots. ;)

Speaking of trees growing next to utility lines . . . .

Herbie, the tallest American Elm in New England, 217 years old when it was cut down last month.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%27Herbie%27,_Yarmouth,_Maine.jpg

http://www.yarmouthcommunityservices.org/Herbie.html

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:327460}}