Kaye White is hoping Maryland?s General Assembly can save her crepe myrtles.
In the spring, their pink and lilac blossoms shield a transmission line yards from her Halethorpe home in Baltimore County, and, for decades, crews from Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. have trimmed the branches perilously close to high-voltagewires. Now, White said, the company wants to cut them ? as well as her beloved eastern red cedars ? down.
“They have an array of excuses,” White said. “The real reason they want to do this is because it?s cheaper for them if you cut all the trees down. Then they don?t have to come back and trim them again.”
Several lawmakers said utility companies are unnecessarily clear-cutting trees across the state. A group lead by Baltimore County Democrat Steve Lafferty has introduced legislation requiring utility companies to host a public meeting before cutting trees. Sens. Kathy Klausmeier and Ed Kasemeyer have filed the same bill in the Senate.
The proposal also gives homeowners the opportunity to hire their own consultants to determine if axing is necessary.
“I question whether that is sensible forestry or necessary to protect the transmission lines,” Lafferty said. “I think it can be done with a little less heavy hand.”
BGE officials said previously they cut trees only to ensure reliable service, and in December, they agreed to halt the clear-cutting of a 3-mile stretch of Cromwell Valley Road in Towson at the urging of neighbors.
A the time, a spokeswoman ? who did not return a call by press time Thursday ? said the company would conduct an environmental study and is happy to work with concerned homeowners.
But Towson activist Doug Desmarais said the clear-cutting has begun anew on Cromwell Valley Road.
“You pay to live in scenic country and now all you?ve got is barren land,” Desmarais said.
