At the Amherst Public Shade Tree Committee meeting this afternoon tree warden Alan Snow made it perfectly clear that his main priority is not to work with Western Mass Electric Company to "blue sky" power lines so that we citizens stay warm, comfortable and plugged in should inclement weather disrupt our urban canopy this fall or winter, potentially sending us all back into the dark ages.
And it's not to maintain the aesthetic beauty or practical environmental benefits provided by our tall friends either.
No, it's simply to try to make sure large limbs or entire trunks do not crash down on innocent bystanders, their cars or homes. In other words, risk aversion.
Committee Chair Hope Crolius reiterated how "surprised" the entire committee was when viewing the "trimming" in South Amherst, which at the previous meeting she described as the "slaughter on South East Street."
The Tree Warden responded that the electric utility calls it "enhanced trimming" and he did veto half of what WMECO wanted to whack. Half!
Maybe they were going to hire the Air Force for a napalm strike.
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Folks, I agree with Alan and frankly, the town is damn lucky to have him.
These "widowmakers" weigh as much (if not more than) an automobile and from 60 feet up, are going a lot faster than you might think when they hit the ground.
They are every bit as dangerous as a drunk driver -- all we need is a 4-year-old to be crushed to death by a falling tree, and such things do happen, and everyone is going to have a completely different attitude toward all of this.
Alan once pointed out to me that a Maple tree was going to die, no matter what he did for it -- and 2-3 years later, it was dead. He knows his stuff.
And maybe if - perish the thought - people were to support him, then when he had conversations with WMECO, he would be able to go from saving half the trees they want down to perhaps more...
A mere 5 days ago:
A longtime Sudbury resident and leader in the local Jewish community was killed Wednesday when a tree branch fell on him as he walked back from a concert at Tanglewood.
Lester Holtzblatt, 61, was taken to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield shortly after the incident was reported to police around 10:25 p.m. He was pronounced dead on arrival, according to the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office.
And a few people in the Springfield area died last year when a freak tornado paid a visit. Should we spend a fortune trying to harden the city for another one that may hit in the next 100 years?
Ask one of the relatives of one of the people that was killed.
Do not have to. I know what their answer would be.
Larry -- ask your tornado question a different way:
Should we fix or demolish structurally unsound buildings so that they don't fall down on people?
Fall on people because of whatever -- do we have safety standards and do we follow them? A lot of the trees WMECO/Snow want down are rotten inside. Unsafe.
Do we follow code or not?
Yes Ed, and a lot of them are not rotten and ready to fall.
Alan also admitted to the Tree Committee that the October storm was unprecedented and even with all this "enhanced trimming" if if were to happen again exactly the same way the power would still go off.
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