NHEC Integrated Vegetation Management Program Introduction Your New Hampshire Electric Co op is committed to providing its members with reliable electric service year round in all weather conditions. To meet this goal, the Vegetation Management team is active all year keeping trees, brush and other undesirable vegetation out of the wire zone. Keeping the Right of Way clear is not only a good way to keep the lights on, but also a good way to ensure that nobody gets hurt by accidentally coming into indirect contact with high voltage conductors which can be catastrophic and/or fatal to people and animals. What Is a Right of Way? A right of way is a corridor or pathway that NHEC s electric lines follow. These rights of way provide NHEC an operational safety zone between the conductors and trees, buildings, or other objects and also provide access for line crews to maintain, repair or improve the lines and poles. NHEC employs an Integrated Vegetation Management Program or IVMP to keep its rights of way clear. Our IVMP consists of mechanical clearing using chainsaws, bucket trucks, tree climbers, brush chippers and mowers. Chemical control techniques such as selective herbicide applications are used to help control unwanted brush and to Jump Start the biological control of desirable, low growing plant species we want to outcompete the tall growing trees we don t want under the lines. Why Do We Clear Rights of Way? NHEC maintains a right of way to keep it clear of brush and trees that will grow tall enough to interfere with our conductors. Many tree species that occur naturally along our right of ways are not compatible with having our lines over the top of them. It is best to remove the trees that will grow too tall before they get close to the wires rather than let them get larger. It costs more to remove trees that are larger, so we periodically re-cut brush growing within the Right of Way. Trees need to be growing at a distance
far enough from the wires that they will not come into contact with conductors before we return to trim again. It is never in a tree s best interest to be topped and it is best for trees to be far enough from the lines that our contractors never have to prune the trees. That is a best case scenario and we know that we are going to have to prune trees, so this is a guideline to keep our members informed about why we do what we do. About Our Contractors The majority of right of way clearing is performed by contractors. Tree contractors that work on NHEC s electric distribution system are qualified and insured to work on trees that are within a 10 feet of the conductors. NHEC cannot have unqualified persons working on trees within 10 feet of any of our conductors. Not all tree workers are qualified to work near conductors and we have specific training requirements for our contractors to ensure that everyone is working safely. Safety is our number one priority. We don t want anyone getting near the energized lines that aren t qualified to be there. Electricity is silent under normal conditions, but when a fault in the flow (such as a tree on the line) gives the energy a pathway to ground it can be very loud, bright and destructive. Right of Way Clearing Specifications Trimming When the tree contractors bid on work, they submit a price to complete a portion of line clearance according to NHEC specifications. The specifications vary from job to job but a general guideline is 15 feet of clearance on either side of the primary conductors and 20 feet of overhead clearance above the highest wire on the pole. Contractors will remove all tree species from underneath the wires. In some cases where the tree or brush leans into the 15 foot mark, the tree or brush will be removed because it is not responsible practice to top a tree and leave a stub with no crown. Proper pruning cuts may end up providing more than 15 feet of clearance. Tipping branches back, leaving branch stubs or topping trees are practices we do not condone. These practices promote poor branch attachment and the spread of decay into branch stubs left on the tree. It eventually causes more problems with trees failing and is unsightly to look at. Trees have dignity and deserve to be treated in an arboriculturally correct way. When maintained properly, trees can live long healthy lives in close proximity to power lines, but when there is improper maintenance, they are relegated to suffering and struggling through life, mutilated and unsightly. Please remember, not all trees are appropriate for life next to or underneath conductors.
NHEC Foresters are looking to maintain healthy trees because they protect our lines from other trees falling from outside the right of way. Trees that are structurally compromised due to decay or damage, dead or dying trees should be removed before causing outages. These trees are surveyed by NHEC Foresters during maintenance and if they are not going to make it to the next trim cycle, will be marked for removal. Service wires, which feed from the transformer to the house, are trimmed to achieve two feet of clearance in order to keep trees out of direct contact with the wire. Privacy Hedges In areas where brush has grown up and provides a screen or privacy to a home, if it is not readily visible that there has been some type of active maintenance on the brush, it will be cut. NHEC is not responsible for providing privacy to your yard or business, but a side effect of NHEC s maintenance practices may provide temporary privacy between maintenance cycles. Privacy hedges should consist of tree or shrub species that are not naturally seeded trees or, if they do consist of native, naturally occurring species, they need to be actively maintained at a height of no greater than eight feet. Having hedges that consist of ornamental species helps tree workers identify that this area with ornamentals may be a special situation other than normal cutting conditions. Please remember that no one knows your property as well as you. It needs to be obviously maintained for trimming crews to realize that you have it under control. Member Notification Prior to Clearing Before our contractors begin work on any right of way, NHEC makes automated phone calls to all the members abutting the right of way for whom we have phone numbers. If we do not have your current phone number for your electric account, you cannot receive these notifications so please update your contact information with Member Solutions by calling 1-800-698-2007 during regular business hours, or email solutions@nhec.com anytime. NHEC Foresters would like to talk with members about any concerns before the chainsaws, bucket truck and chipper show up. It works better for all parties involved. Selective Herbicide Application After mechanical maintenance (cutting and trimming) has occurred, a contractor will survey the
maintained areas for possible selective herbicide application. Not all areas that are cut are appropriate for herbicide application. NHEC uses herbicides to control the amount of brush that sprouts from hardwood species that were cut and chipped during regular mechanical maintenance. Once a single stem has been cut, it may sprout into as many as 15 new stems that grow rapidly and increase the costs of cutting during the next maintenance cycle. If we selectively treat the sprouts with a basal or foliar herbicide, the tree takes in the herbicide and the root system dies. The death of the target trees reduces the competition for desirable species like shrubs, grasses and ferns and also promotes the desirable species health and vigor. This reduction of undesirable species helps nature take over the areas under the lines with a low growing, herbaceous, early successional vegetation that is great habitat for wildlife like songbirds and other vertebrates that need this type of habitat for survival. NHEC uses a single contractor for all herbicide applications. Vegetation Control Service (VCS) is responsible for obtaining permits from the State of New Hampshire for all applications. VCS complies with all notification laws pertaining to herbicide applications in New Hampshire. VCS uses two application types on our rights of way throughout the state. Foliar herbicide applications happen during summer months while trees have leaves on them. Basal herbicide applications happen generally in the fall or early winter before snow gets deep and while the trees are dormant after leaf drop. Foliar applications are only allowed in off road sections of line, where the line is out in the woods or where there is a tree line in between the power line and the road. Basal applications can happen in off road sections or along roadside sections as well. If the power line runs beside a road, the brush can be a maximum of one year old to be basal treated with herbicide. The herbicide application reduces the cost of cutting the lines during future maintenance, it also reduces the time needed to find the causes of outages and reduces the time it takes to get access to facilities if there is damage that needs repair. All herbicide applications to rights of way are done with a backpack style sprayer. The foliar applications are done with a motorized backpack blower with a tank on top for holding the herbicide solution. Foliar herbicides are mixed with water at a low rate of concentration, usually about 5% herbicide and 95% water. Basal applications are done with a backpack with a hand pump for pressurizing the tank and a wand used for applying the herbicide mix to the base of the stem of the target trees. Herbicide is mixed with a light oil (like mineral oil) at a rate of about 30% herbicide and 70% oil. Selective herbicide applications are a key component to a responsible, successful Integrated Vegetation Management Program. The State of New Hampshire does not have a minimum setback distance for herbicide
applications near private water wells, but VCS and NHEC have adopted the setback provided for septic systems near water wells and keep all herbicide applications at least 75 feet from private wells. If you are notified about an herbicide application and have concerns about the application, please contact VCS at 1-800-323-7706 and they will address any issues that you have. It is the right of the member to refuse herbicide application on their property and we respect that right. We do feel, however, that this tool is the best way to manage brush effectively. Please click here for links to fact sheets for Glyphosate, Fosamine Ammonium, Metsulfuron Methyl and Triclopyr, which are the most commonly used herbicides used by VCS in both foliar and basal applications. Planting Trees Near Power Lines When planting trees near power lines, be sure to select tree species that are compatible with having overhead utilities. You can t grow a sugar maple tree to maturity under distribution lines, it won t fit. Plant the right tree in the right place. Trees become a burden and a hazard when they need to be maintained to a size and shape that is different than what they want to be naturally. If you are planting trees near power lines, please click here to consult this document. NHEC foresters can supply you with a list of acceptable tree and shrub species that will be compatible with overhead utilities upon request. Each planting site has different characteristics, so not all trees are compatible with all site types. Conclusion NHEC s Vegetation Management Program is working all year to maintain a reliable electric distribution system. It is our goal to keep the lights on at your home or business. Our IVM program is the best way to ensure that we meet this goal and reduce the costs associated with vegetation management in the future. If you have questions about where we are planning to do maintenance, please see our list of planned maintenance areas on our website. NHEC takes pride in its Right of Way Vegetation Management Program. When done right, the results can be a beautiful, low maintenance landscape with aesthetic, economic and environmental benefits for members, the public and wildlife.