Pepco To Resume Tree Removals On Rustic Roads

After visiting two rural sites of Pepco's in Poolesville and Darnestown on Thursday, the utility and conservation activists have agreed to disagree on whether the mature, and in some cases, specimen trees should have been chopped down in the first place.

The tree cutting on rustic roads is due to resume July 9 after a temporary moratorium, following complaints from residents and environmentalists.

“It’s a reaction after being taken to the woodshed and this is their way of making a statement,” said Caroline Taylor, Executive Director of the Montgomery Countryside Alliance, in referrence to residents’ outrage over power outages that left residents in the dark over several days last winter.

Over on rustic roads before advocates intervened earlier this month.

Some of the downed trees on Berryville Road in Darnestown and West Willard Road in Poolesville were more than four feet in diameter.  Pepco staff forester Matt Young, who accompanied conservationists and Pepco officials on the tour, said the decision to remove dozens of mature trees was made because they were either diseased, in decay, or were seen as a threat to power lines because tree limbs were rubbing against each other. Some, but not all of the tree trunks, showed signs of disease or decay.

Roads defined as rustic by Montgomery County do not have County right-of-way and therefore the land along the road is privately owned. The property manager of the land along West Willard gave permission for Pepco to remove the trees but the owner, Mike Rubin, said he was surprised by the extensive level of tree cutting.

Taylor said groups like the Montgomery Countryside Alliance, the Sierra Club, and the Audubon National Society also believe in maintaining Pepco’s tree trimming policy but argue the utility has an obligation as a community member to address long-term preservation goals, such as rustic roads and agri-tourism. She said this year’s cutting was in glaring conflict with those goals.

Pepco spokesman Charles Washington said there needs to be a balance between protecting its service to the community and meeting the needs of conservation activists.

Montgomery County Council member Roger Berliner has scheduled a meeting between Pepco officials and community activists to work on developing a long-term solution to address future tree cutting by Pepco on rural roads. The meeting will take place on July 18 at 2 p.m.