THE IMPORTANCE OF
UTILITY
ARBORICULTURE
Randall H. Miller
UARF
What do you have that he doesn’t?
TREE Fund has awarded nearly $4.0 million in grants
since 2002:
2018 TREE Fund Financial Highlights:
• Awarded ten new research grants totaling
~$305,000
• Paid ~$135,000 toward multi-year grants from
prior years
• Awarded seven scholarships totaling ~$35,000
2019 Tour des Trees
• Tennessee – Kentucky loop, starting
and ending in Nashville
• Co-hosted by Southern and Kentucky
Chapters of ISA
• 425+ miles in five days
• Ride dates: September 16-20
• Registration opens February 1st
• Details at treefund.org/tourdestrees
2019 Tour des Trees
OBJECTIVES
• Make clear the value of utility
arboriculture
• Describe why UVM best practices are
significant
• Explain program management’s
criticality
• Convey the importance of
communication
• Clarify the contribution of storm
response
Value and importance of UVM
• UVM is critical for safe and
reliable utility services
▪ >$5 billion annual spend
▪ >50,000 employed
o Workers, consultants, safety experts,
managers, equipment operators,
climbers, herbicide applicators, quality
inspectors, customer relations specialists,
researchers, suppliers, industry
associations, and more.
1940
1991 Certified Arborist
1997 CERTIFIED
UTILITY SPECIALIST
New text book and study guide
• 2007 ISA determines that a
new guide is needed
▪ Study guide offered by the
organization (ISA) should be
independent from the test, to
meet international standards
for testing and certification
▪ Randall Miller (utility
background) and Geoff
Kempter (contractor
background) are contracted
to write a new guide
• 2018 new guide published
Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Safety
• Program management
• Utility pruning
• IVM
• Electrical Knowledge
• Communication
• Storm Response
• Glossary
• References
• Index
Professionalism
• Use professional
terminology
▪ Consulting utility
foresters, not planners
▪ Utilities don’t “trim out”
circuits, grids or
transmission lines
▪ Utility arborists or tree
workers are not “tree
trimmers”
Reasons for utility arboriculture
• Safety
• Service reliability
• Governmental
Regulations
• Cost effectiveness
• Environmental
stewardship
Safety
Close Call
Fires
Trees are a major outage source
Service reliability
How trees cause outages
• Mechanical tear-down:▪ Large branches
▪ Whole tree failure
• Direct cause of faults:▪ Grow in
▪ Movement of wire - sag due to heat and sway (of both line and tree)
▪ >2V/ft. voltage gradient
Vegetation-caused outage progression
Don Russell photos
Pacific Power Vegetation-related Outages by cause
Jan. 1, 2013 and July 1, 2016
broken limb34%
broken trunk31%
uprooted tree19%
bending limb (snow/ice load)
5%
not tree related4%
private party3%
growth2%
overhang2%
Interconnected grid
Western
Interconnection
August 14, 2003
ISA best management practices
Clearance pruning
Lion tailing
• 1One of the worst ways to prune trees is by removing interior and small lateral branches from main scaffold branches, leaving foliage only at the ends of branches”
1Gilman, E.F., et. al..2013. Structural Pruning: A Guide
For The Green Industry. Urban Tree Foundation. Visalia,
CA.
Mass damping
• Complex interaction of branches moving creates mass damping, which smooth's out the amplitude of sway
• Only a few branches can make a significant contribution to changes in the sway motion
From Ken James, Journal of Arboriculture and
Urban Forestry, May 2003.
Subordination, reduction, and temporary heading cuts?
• Don’t remove all the branches at once.
• Even a few branches:▪ Aid mass damping▪ Avoid sunscald▪ Soften Aesthetics
• Temporary heading cuts should be removed on subsequent cycles.
Getting there
IVM bmp
• Choice of control methods
is based on effectiveness,
environmental impact, site
characteristics, safety,
security and economics.
• Founded on Integrated Pest
Management Principles.
• Central principal: cover type
conversion
IVM steps
Site evaluation
• Work Load:• 100% survey:
o Can be placed on a GIS
▪ Sample a proportion of the line.o 10% samples are
common
• Site Factors:▪ Facility type.▪ Ownerships (land use)▪ Topography▪ Environmental factors
(riparian areas, T&E)▪ Other considerations
Tree risk assessment BMP
• Level 1: Limited visual
assessment:▪ ID trees that have an imminent or
probable likelihood of failure.
• Level 2: basic assessment:▪ 360-degree ground-based visual
inspection of the above-ground
portion of a tree and its surrounding
site to identify structural defects that
could affect utility facilities.
Tolerance Level and Action Thresholds
• Tolerance Level:▪ Incompatible plant
pressures (species density, height, location, or conditions) allowable before unacceptable consequences develop
• Action thresholds:▪ vegetation pressures
where vegetation management treatments should occur to prevent conditions from reaching tolerance levels
Alex Olesen
IVM treatment options
• Physical (manual
and mechanical)
• Chemical
• Biological
• Cultural
Chemical control
• Critical for cover type conversion.
• Application to utility Rights-of-way pioneered by Bramble and Byrnes.
• Should be done in compliance with EPA requirements using only properly labeled products.
Chemical treatment
• 65 years of research
on Game Lands 33 n
Pennsylvania
• Begun to determine
how much herbicide
use harmed wildlife
• Determined proper
herbicide use
created habitat that
promote wildlife
Kri
stin W
ild, A
splu
ndh T
ree E
xpert
Co.
Ric
hard
Byrn
es, P
enn S
tate
Univ
ers
ity
Wire Zone-Border Zone
• Establish compatible, stable plant communities.
• Enhance wildlife habitat (meadow species, edge species and forest species)
Pipeline ROW Zones
• 37% of surveyed companies manage zone 1 and 2 the same• Zone 1 width is usually 10ft or 20ft wide [one company had 50ft]• Zone 1 is kept free of trees and shrubs by 67% of companies that reported [9]• Zone 2 width is 20-25ft on each side of Zone 1• Zone 2 has height and dbh restrictions for some companies• 30’ from water vegetation is kept for soil stabilization [one company]• Zone 2 --- Zone 3 --- remove vegetation when there is exposed or shallow
pipe• 58% of UVM workers have a way to know the depth and 68% the position of
the pipe 38
Closed chain of custody
• Container cycle: supply containers are returned, refilled and reused.
• Integrity cycle: Closed connections at the transfer points between supply containers, mix tank and application equipment.
• Documentation cycle: A container tracking system that establishes an auditable record documenting movement of herbicides and containers.
• Herbicide cycle: Use of customer blends containing the required active ingredient and adjuvants.
Maintained Rights of Way are
not Sacrifice Areas
➢ Right-of-way Stewardship Council Accreditation
http://www.rowstewardship.org/integrated_vegetation_management
Program management
▪ Develop a strategic plan for a VM
program
▪ Design work schedule plans that
best achieve program goals and
objectives
▪ Utilize project management
techniques to execute project plans
▪ Prepare a utility vegetation
management budget
▪ Execute contracts for vegetation
management services based on
needed services and budgets
▪ Implement a personnel
management strategy that
encourages high-performing staff
Program Management
Program management concepts
• Triple constraint triangle
• Work breakdown structures▪ Prioritized outline of job
components
• Dependencies▪ Relationships that dictate
when tasks in the work breakdown structure begin and endo Mandatory
o Discretionary
o External
GIS-based workflow management software
• Icons can be configured to
represent items on the
map
• Create work orders
• Time entries forms can be
built and configured to
collect important data
• Automatically generate
timesheets
• Information can be pulled
from your GIS files and
dropped right into a form
without the user having to
hand enter the information
• Work updated as it occurs
Terra Spectrum Technologies
• Cost types
▪ Line-item
▪ Performance
▪ Program
▪ Zero-based
▪ Entrepreneurial
Program management
Budgets
Program management
Contracting
• T&M
• Unit
• Firm Fixed
• Performance
Program Management
Contract type risks and benefits
Program Management
Personnel management
• Poor personal
management skills
spread negative
emotions, disrupt
performance and
drive away the best
and most ambitious
• Disrespectful
treatment from
superiors is the most
common reason
people leave a job
o Pay is fifth
Program Management
Mindset• Fixed mindset
▪ Attributes are inherited and
cannot be improved through
effort
▪ Threatened by aptitude
▪ Mistrustful, adversarial and
given to micromanage
▪ Disruptive management style
• Growth Mindset
▪ Work and practice leads to
improvement
▪ Mentors and coaches
▪ Highly functional programs
Program Management
Resonant Leadership
• Lead by example.
• Listen aggressively
• Communicate purpose and meaning
• Create a climate of trust
• Look for results, not salutes
• Take calculated risks
• Build up your people
• Generate unity
• Improve your people’s quality of life
The Five Levels of Leadership
• Position
• Permission
• Production
• People
development
• Pinnacle
Customer communications
• Typical VM employees
have thousands of
public interactions over
the course of a year:
▪ Working on customer
properties
▪ Phone calls
▪ Answering questions
▪ Knocking on doors
▪ Controlling traffic
▪ Driving
Public relations, customer relations and customer service overlap :
Poor customer relations and customer service make everyone look bad!
General Responsibility:
• Public Relations:
• -Strategic
• Customer Relations:
• -Interfacing
• Customer Service:
• -Getting the job done
Corporate office: public perception,
advertising, social media, press
releases, messaging, etc.
Foresters, work planners, GFs, and
crews: Developing customer
relationships
Crews, foresters, GFs, QA/QC:
Getting the job done, follow-up,
keeping commitments
Internal Stakeholders
• Corporate VM personnel▪ Managers
▪ Forestry Staff
• Contractor VM personnel▪ Work planners
▪ Workers
▪ Auditors
• Other corporate departments
with influence over VM▪ Executive
▪ Finance
▪ Purchasing
▪ Line dept.
• Corporate owners▪ Stockholders (IOUs)
▪ Co-op members
▪ Governments (e.g. munis)
• Utility customers
▪ Residential
▪ Commercial
• Communities
• Property owners
• Media outlets
• Regulators
• Suppliers
• Environmental groups
• Land management
agencies
External Stakeholders
Outreach methods
• Printed materials
• Email and text messaging
• Websites
• Social media
• Press releases
• Community meetings
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: John Public
Phone: 555-555-1212
Email: [email protected]
www.utlityinc.com
Utility Inc. to Prune Trees
After a twenty year hiatus, ABC Utility Company will resume tree pruning
in Burgvillle. Forestry Superintendent Joe Linden states that safety and
reliability should be greatly enhanced as many trees are in terrible
condition and have been regularly falling onto power lines. It is expected
that some service interruptions may be required as the trees have grown
well past the lines in many locations. A record cold winter, followed by a
record hot summer, has resulted in increase revenues for ABC Utility due
to increased electric consumption, which has resulted in increased funding
available to prune trees.
Emergency service restoration
Storm preparation and responseDisaster management cycle
• Storm response is a
continuous process.
• Organization of
storm response
should fit within the
Incident Command
System (ICS) best
practices for
emergency
management
Storm preparation and response : Risk Identification
Storm types
Thunderstorms
▪ Can be isolated or part of a larger, cyclonic system
▪ Difficult to forecast precisely in advance
• Derechos▪ Complex of thunderstorms
traveling hundreds of miles
▪ Widespread destruction
• Tornados ▪ Localized extreme
destruction
Summary
• Utility arboriculture is essential to balance the contribution of trees and infrastructure
• UVM best practices provide credibility and results
• UVM requires application of sound business practices
• 360 degree communication is critical to success
• UVM is indispensable to storm response
THE IMPORTANCE OF
UTILITY
ARBORICULTURE
Randall H. Miller