NHEC Tree Pruning...BE AWARE !
 

Home Owners BEWARE....
NHEC is undertaking their annual tree pruning program in many towns they service with selected neighborhoods already identified. More will be identified later this year. If you receive a notification in the mail that they are going to be in your area, PAY CLOSE ATTENTION to the document...do not ignore it and throw it away. NHEC's program is substantially more aggressive than any of the other electric utilities in NH and calls for clear cutting everything 15 feet on either side of their wires from the top of the tree canopy right down to the ground. They devastated our property at the end of last year, cutting our landscaping trees because they did not like the species and even took the entire branches off one side of three large trees. Just imagine one sided trees !! The key is that the state laws allows them to do what they wish IF YOU DO NOT contact them to request an in-person review of their plans for your property. It all is up to you. It also applies to any utility for that matter when you get the notice to discuss what they want to do on your privately owned property. Bottom line....if you do not call them to set up a consultation and give them your approval (or you CAN deny their request), your lack of response will amount to TACIT APPROVAL TO CUT to their policy on your property. BEWARE....there is no mercy for private property! You may PM me if you have already experienced this type of issue in the past!

Hmmmm, we've lost electricity quite a few times this year. We are about due, I let them cut what they want. If my choice is a few trees or electricity, I choose electricity.

Correct. Yes. Beware !

Last year these tree cutters devastated decades of landscaping on my property. Cut flowering trees/shrubs that never could get high enough to impact any wires. Cut trees leaning away from street and if they ever fell would hit nothing.

If your property entryway is all woods - then a few cut trees makes no difference.

But if you have beautified your enterway/property near the street. Then, by all means, read the OP's original post.

Thanks, tummyman. Not appreciating that I could at least slow them down, I tossed my letter months ago, as you warned against. But I just emailed them to request an in person review. I would much rather do without juice for a couple of days than lose a swath of trees

They struck when we were in Florida. Trashed a whole line of small privacy trees that were no threat to power lines and left large piles of slash as well as a huge pile of 18-20" pine logs which are of no use to us for firewood.
Also found a new crack across a brand new paving job on our driveway.....neighbor said a crane was working there.

Whither (Wither) New Hampshire?
 

Years and years ago, the family could tell we had driven across New Hampshire's state line because we were suddenly enveloped in a dark and cool forested roadway. :look: The same feeling was experienced later that day as we drove down Wolfeboro's dark and cool Forest Road.

Driving south towards Alton and Chichester, the roadside trees were the same density as today's roadway at East of Suez restaurant. (Or the present drive to Middleton).

About ten years ago, on my first Spring hop to Wolfeboro, I saw both Moose Mountain and Rattlesnake Island for the first time. :confused: The reason was that all those roadside trees had been decimated--for the convenience of electricity! (I had accepted temporary losses of electricity as the price of living in a Woodland Wonder).

Ever notice that Wolfeboro Town Hall is Photoshopped with all the utility lines made to disappear? (Today's headlines indicate that both gas-stoves and air-conditioning are in peril).

The proliferation of "self-storage" warehousing (and seasonal boat storage)--where all trees are removed--hasn't helped the state's rural image.

A major tree-clearing of a lot near our place was recently accomplished by the cranes and heavy trucks marked, "Urban Tree Cutters".

About 15 years ago, New Hampshire tourism-advertising celebrated the state as, "95% trees and the rest is water". Maybe that same tourism agency is scratching their heads for a follow-up commercial suggesting, "We still have water".

:rolleye1:

It happened in this neighborhood too. The most disappointing was a hemlock which is part of a privacy hedge was cut and it should never have gotten big enough to bother the lines. Also a beech tree which was really still a bush and in between other trees was cut. We we getting ready to cut the other saplings and save one to grow, but they beat us to it and cut the whole thing. It was only probably 8' tall. There are two trees beside it that were left. We can't figure it out.

I fly over this great state at least once a week. I'll tell you, there are bazzillions of trees here. And that is an understatement.

If you don't want your ornamental trees pruned, don't plant them near power lines, or have your lines buried or pay attention to the NHEC postings and call them about your wishes. Pretty much all power lines are located in right of ways, keep them clear.

Towns don't want to plow streets with trees overhanging roads, so those are actively pruned also. We tend to view the world from our own little prisms of experience, prejudices and desires. Trees are big weeds, beautiful weeds, but my point is they self propagate and need to be kept at bay in the small amount of space needed to get power to people and keep roadways passable.

NH Co-Op Contact
 

They came to our neighborhood too and left a mess for the homeowners to clean up. They are here again today. :(

Eversource does the same
 

Eversource decimated many beautiful maple trees on my street that shaded walkers and bikers in the summer. They don't care about the esthetics of their work in the least, taking huge ugly bites out of the trees. The number of walkers went down after the tree cutting.

BEWARE: If you care about your trees, you MUST BE HOME when they come to do the cutting even if you have given explicit instructions that they are not to do any cutting. One year Eversource (meaning Asplundh) cut trees on my property after receiving permission from my neighbor! They didn't even verify whose property the trees were on. I gave them verbal and written notice not to touch my trees. The following year they cut a large quantity of branches from two beautiful walnut trees in my yard when I wasn't home. Walnuts are valuable and delicate trees that only have leaves from late May to early October and they are impacted by drought and tent caterpillars. They can't afford to lose any branches. Plus Eversource left all the mess in my yard for me to clean up.

This year is the first year that Eversource has sent notices to residents about planned cutting and asked for their written permission for the cutting (by checking a box on the return postcard). I called the supervisor for my area and reminded him again about my instructions to not touch my trees. Moral of the story: revoke permission in writing, be home when they're in your neighborhood, and talk directly with the supervisor. The supervisor will not necessarily be on site on the day of the cutting, so you need to clarify things with him ahead of time and have his phone number handy on the day of the cutting.

It's not that we want to prevent trimming of dangerous trees. It's that these companies have demonstrated that they don't care about property owners' rights, your expressed wishes, or unnecessary damage to trees that aren't threatening the lines.

In my area there has been a huge amount of tree removal by the electric companies but also by residents who log acres of trees for no apparent reason and contractors who believe that every single tree needs to be removed from a lot in order to build a house. There is no consideration of the need for the shade provided trees, wildlife habitat, environmental protection, or even our psychological need for live vegetation around us. This explains why no one sits outside on their lawn or porch anymore---it's too hot and too ugly. New Hampshire may be heavily forested, but large areas of our towns, cities, and newer neighborhoods---the places where there are people---are not.

There is always a Positive in every situation. Just look at the FREEDOM we still have in New Hampshire. We could be living in a surrounding State and have everything taken from us. Luvin me some Sununu right about now...:cheers:

A bizarre post on a thread that is all about The Man taking away our trees to increase their convenience, thus making NH more like Mass. There is no positive here unless you don't care about trees

You still can breath clean air, Correct ?
You still can see a movie if you want, correct?
You still can go out for dinner when you chose, correct?

New Hampshire offers a lot of positives. Just think of one of those. PLUS, you have your FREEDOM still. Luv me some Sununu.... Hasn't this been happening to New Hampshire for years. Kinda like the Pot callin the Kettle black, don't ya think?

The trees are being cut because it is in their ROW.
Should a tree fall and snap their lines... the tree owner doesn't get a bill for the repair - although maybe that is the answer.

As for the Governor, he is seeking a way out. Probably more to do with the ConVal lawsuit than the cutting of some trees... so really not a point of this thread.

I do know if you request a meeting, and provide that the tree/shrub will be inconsequential, they are willing to listen. But most just ignore the mailing, and so they use the standard assigned to clear the way.

Correct! What's really happening here is:

(1) Powerlines need to be buried underground, or some other technology found
(2) But the electric companies aren't interested in paying for that
(3) So instead they cut down the trees for their convenience
(4) While drastically raising our electric rates
(5) And leave the debris for us to pick up

I was without power for two days this year. I'd rather have trees 365 days and power 363 days a year than have my house baking in the sun.

One of the follies of severe pruning is the theory that that will prevent power outages. The day after Eversource pruned the trees on my street last time, a tall pine fell on the wires and we lost power. To prevent that from happening, you would need to cut back the trees 75 to 100 feet from the road, which would mean no shade for most houses.

By the way, Sununu's house is surrounded by mature trees. Trees are an important part of the value and enjoyment of a property.

1) NH is the Granite State. And the ROW would still need to be kept clear.

2) Electric companies would not pay... it would be a capital expenditure that is added to the cost of the delivery of your bill. The same goes for the trees that they must clear from the ROW - except that is direct expensed.

These aren't market lines... they are reliability lines... so they are capitalized to all of us if large transmission, and within a territorial segment if local transmission.

This.

We have Japanese maples in our front yard, and a good friend keeps asking why we don’t cut them down. “They hide your house.”

Well, they’re kind of the perfect front yard tree. Shorter than the power lines, yet tall enough to provide shade in the summer and wind protection in the winter.

When the neighborhood kids were young, parents seemed to gather in our yard to enjoy the shade and watch the kids play while their treeless yards baked in the sun.

Buy Homes Across the Street...
 

1) Where I winter in Florida, Asplundh shreds the trimmings and delivers the mulch to their electric customers on their "mulch list". (An actual list). When they drove down my street, I asked for a mulch delivery. The driver checked his mulch list in front of me, and I was listed as #5. "Number one" on his list was on a road-accessible island seven miles away that had no electricity or water services! :rolleye2:

2) Japanese Maple is an acceptable tree in NH. Norway Maple is not!

3) In 1960, I flew across this great nation in a light plane. As said previously posted, New Hampshire was uniformly green except for its many lakes. However, Audubon Magazine had a story about rampant unregulated logging throughout the SE states. It was titled, "Whittling Dixie".

Since that flight, major logging came to Mt. Shaw. (A mountain very visible from Lake Winnipesaukee). When I last hiked Mt. Shaw, there wasn't a mature White Pine tree to be seen. :(

4) When I did plant White Pines on my Winnipesaukee lakefront in the 1960s, I failed to notice the electric lines overhead. The lines went to my neighbors' homes, diagonally across one of my lots. When they cut half of them down, I called to ask if they had an easement. The answer was, "We'll check on it".

The following season, the utility revamped the utility poles to miss my property, but cut down more trees and left the debris (and one pole) in place. :eek2:

But now, none of my three properties have powerlines anywhere near them! :)

Following up--I am just off the phone with the NHEC arborist. Fortunately, my lines are "service" lines rather than "primary" lines. They are forgiving on service lines that serve a small number of homes, but tough on the primaries that serve a large number. He was quick to agree to an in-person review, but as we spoke it became clear that I did not ned one.

Thanks, tummyman--great thread!

More Following up...
 

Another consideration:

May and June are the chief nesting seasons for song birds. Advise the "trimmers" to have those tree cutters come back in Autumn, instead.

Other birds, like catbirds, will nest near (or on) the ground--so they're not to be overlooked, either.

We at this forum were wondering "where all the songbirds went" back a decade ago:

https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums...highlight=song

Beware, NHEC is out with their latest trimming schedule for May. You can access it here....

https://www.nhec.com/wp-content/uplo...e-May-2023.pdf

If you get a notice in the mail that they will be "in the area", BEWARE...they are coming to destroy natural vegetation and habitat. If you sit back and ignore their letter, then you may suffer damages.

Areas around the lakes region.....Alton, Gilmanton, Meredith, and Tuftonboro have significant streets / roads on the list. If you have already had damage, PM me.