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: jqp@utiltyinc.com

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