Tree Butchers Hack, Cut, Saw, Scar
Charleston’s grand oak trees, native palmettos and magnolias lining streets along several area neighborhoods all have one major threat in common — “chainsaw-wielding tree thugs,” as one resident puts it.
“If a grand tree happens to be in a power-line right-of-way, it gets slashed,” said South Windermere resident (and former neighborhood president) Susan Pearlstine. “It doesn’t matter race, creed, religion or politics. Everybody hates it.”
Dominion Energy contracts arborists every five years to cut tree branches to keep power lines clear, ensuring the lines are not damaged during storms. When tree limbs and other vegetation make contact with overhead power lines, it can cause lights to flicker, or power to fail completely, according to Dominion.
“While we understand and appreciate the passion surrounding trees across the Lowcountry, safety remains our top priority,” said Dominion spokesman Paul Fischer. “Hazardous vegetation that has grown too close to energized lines is not only a fire hazard, but also an issue of public safety.
“Safeguarding energized lines from dangerous, overgrown vegetation is an integral part of our obligation to deliver safe and reliable power and keep the lights on for all the customers we serve,” he said. “Trees and tree limbs remain the Number 1 reason for power outages across our system.”
Dominion uses “directional pruning,” cutting in a “V” shape or an “L” shape to direct tree growth around power lines, with arborists permitted to work within 10 feet of power lines. According to Fischer, Dominion’s tree-cutters follow ANSI-A300 standards, the generally accepted industry standards for tree-care practices, which says “not more than 25% of the foliage should be removed within an annual growing season.”
Fischer said while the trees “have a different shape and appearance” after pruning, the canopies fill in quickly due the Lowcountry’s roughly 300-day growing season each year. But residents say the value of the trimming could be maintained without unnecessary and unsightly hacking away at the trees’ branches.
Yes, but …
“I understand the point of doing it, and I have seen a drop-off in power outages during storms after the trimming started,” said West Ashley resident Alex Cooker. “I’ve lived here for over 20 years and have seen a number of different rounds of tree-cutting. But this past cycle has been pretty brutal.”
Pearlstine said she hasn’t noticed a significant difference in power stability.
“They’re going to tell you that … we shouldn’t care about the trees because it’s incumbent on them to keep the power on,” Pearlstine said. “But before the last tree-trimming cycle, we had a major wind storm, and our neighborhood never lost power.”
Cooker said his main concern is that the tree-cutters don’t seem to differentiate trimming practices depending on the species of tree. Slow-growing, native magnolias get the same treatment as fast-growing, hardy oaks that often recover within a few years.
“Why would you cut back these beautiful magnolias that are such slow, slow growers and just devastate it as if it was some weed that would sprout back up within a year?” he said. “There’s no way some of these magnolias are going to come even close to recovering before the next cycle. It’s just overkill. It’s just a numbers game to them.”
Pearlstine agreed.
“We look at this and go, ‘What were they thinking?’ It definitely hurts the beautiful natural resources in our city,” she said. “It’s just horrible, and it’s ugly. None of us would ever get away with doing that to a tree even on our own property. It’s very frustrating.”
And there’s nothing that can be done to stop the cutting, residents say. Cooker described one instance when he and a neighbor stood underneath a tree to stop crews from working in an attempt to talk to them. The crews simply waited them out, and resumed cutting as soon as the area was clear.
“They would just stall until we finally left,” he said. “They just blew us off.”
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