By Carolyn Jebaily

Photos by Carolyn Jebaily

Dominion Energy’s severe cutting, some say “butchering,” of Beaufort’s trees is killing our old oaks. They say it is necessary “to maintain their power line easement.” The large, old live oak trees along Sam’s Point Road on Lady’s Island have been especially hard hit. While I understand that the utility’s easement is 30 feet, this does not necessitate the removal of every green branch within that space. The severe tree cutting that this utility has practiced in the last 5 years is extremely damaging to trees especially when they are already so stressed by drought.

According to ANSI A300, (American National Standards Institute), the national tree care standards in the US, no more than 30% of a live oak’s canopy should be cut. These standards maintain the safety of power lines while preserving the health of the trees. Other “Tree Cities,” such as Gainesville, Florida, successfully implement these standards and do not allow utilities to compromise their urban canopy. Many of Beaufort’s iconic oak trees, some over 300 years old, have had 50 to 75% of their canopy removed simply because their branches extended into the easement. The “one-size-fits-all” approach is unconscionable to these heritage trees.

I have reached out on several occasions to top management at Dominion about their severe cutting practices and was told that the utility has a ‘County agreement’ that exempts them from our Beaufort tree protection standards and gives them the authority to cut anything within their easement. It is time to demand that our county review and make changes to this agreement. Complaining to Dominion is useless. It is the County that needs to stop Dominion’s current cutting practices and demand that our iconic live oaks be given special care and are respected and protected.If a more mindful approach to cutting these extraordinary trees is not adopted, we will lose these grand old oaks; the ones that make you stop and look up, the ones that make sitting in traffic bearable, the ones that shelter birds, give us shade and keep us cool, help control flooding, and survive our biggest storms. And sadly, we will lose the identity, the character, the heritage and beauty of the Lowcountry.

Call your Council member and demand that they protect our trees even from big Utilities.

 

Carolyn Jebaily is a local artist/sculptor who has also worked in conservation.