“I think that I shall never see, A poem lovely as a tree.”
That’s the start of Joyce Kilmer’s classic verse – and it’s how JEA feels about trees.
Seven arborists and foresters work in the Transmission and Distribution Preventive Maintenance Department.
They supervise the work of about 100 subcontractors who trim tree limbs and remove vines along more than 4,000 miles of electric lines that connect generating facilities to more than 420,000 homes and businesses in Northeast Florida.
This month the utility received for the fifth time the Tree Line USA award sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of State Foresters.
The award is based on several core criteria, said Kim Wheeler, department manager.
In addition to using industry standards when it comes to trimming and pruning, to qualify for the award, a utility must provide annual training for its personnel and for its subcontractors.
Public education about the value of trees must be provided, the utility must have a program to show people how to use trees to conserve energy and it must participate in the annual national Arbor Day observance.
“There are only 145 utilities in the U.S. that qualify and only eight in Florida,” Wheeler said.
Joe Anderson, JEA forester, said the mission is to maximize the benefits of trees while providing safe, reliable electrical service.
“We have to ensure that trees don’t interfere with electric lines,” he said. “The No. 1 cause of unplanned outages is vegetation.”
Wheeler said since JEA began its tree program, vegetation-related outages have decreased by more than 20 percent.
In 2012, tree limbs and vines caused 2,416 outages; in 2015, there were 1,877 outages related to trees and plants near electric lines.
Anderson said training is a very important part of JEA’s initiative. More than 50 tree workers are killed each year in the U.S.
“We have classes on Saturdays for tree workers and we invite city crews to participate,” he said. “We work together to enhance the tree canopy.”
In partnership with Greenscape Jacksonville, the nonprofit volunteer tree-planting organization, JEA sponsors an annual flowering tree sale in February.
In the past three years, more than 2,000 trees have been purchased at the sale after buyers are assisted in selecting the proper variety by JEA vegetation maintenance staff.
“We’re helping to enhance the urban forest,” Anderson said.
Like all aspects of JEA, trees are a 24/7 priority, 365 days a year, even leading up to a national holiday such as Memorial Day.
“I’m on call this weekend,” said Anderson.
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