- Alma Shaw
- A hacked redwood tree outside a house in Southwest Santa Rosa
Last year, in the article Hack Job, we wrote about concerns over the implementation of PG&E’s reliability pruning program. Critics like Forestville tree service company owner Darryl Sukovitzen accused the new “trimming regime” of being irresponsible and corrupt, and arborists and homeowners shared stories of trees being cut within an inch of their life, without regard for the health of the tree or the safety of homes below.
Nevertheless, a PG&E spokesperson told us that all of the company’s pruning is performed within International Society of Arboriculture guidelines.
According to an article in today’s Press Democrat, though, the power company is at again, planning to cut down thousands of trees under high-voltage power lines across Sonoma County. They say it’ll protect the local power grid from blackouts. Those who live near the trees says that the plan goes way too far, taking out oaks and oleanders that don’t necessarily pose a threat.
Could this be a case of putting a financial bottom line over the preservation of the trees?
For more, see Save Our Sonoma Trees, an organization fighting the tree-cutting.
