Root Out Risk Before Branching Into Chaos

July 2, 2025

Trees play many important roles in benefiting the environment. They provide shade and coolness in almost all seasons, serve as homes for wildlife, and offer many other benefits. However, despite these benefits, trees require careful management and monitoring for any signs that might indicate potential problems in the future.

Union Power employees and vendors inspect our system for trees that could threaten our power lines and our ability to provide safe and reliable service. We occasionally find diseased, weak, dying, leaning, damaged, or dead trees during these inspections. Trees located outside of the Cooperative’s rights-of-way have the potential to cause outages if they fall onto our lines.

Common Risk-Tree Problems
In our area, pine trees are the biggest concern. Pine trees may show signs of distress through browning needles that start at the tips and move inward, as well as shedding bark and the presence of bark beetles. Drought, especially when combined with a mild winter, can stress the trees, making them unable to defend themselves against these beetles.

Fungal growth is another common warning sign. When a tree is infested with fungus, it is often a sign that the tree is not very healthy and is dealing with a disease or stress. If you notice fungus on a tree’s trunk, contact a certified arborist to discuss treatment options.

How Can You Help?
If you see an unhealthy tree near our power lines, please do not attempt to cut it down yourself. Call 704-289-3145 and speak to one of Union Power’s certified arborists, Wil Ortiz (ext. 3323) or Carrie Lorenz-Efird (ext. 3291).

Reporting a risk tree, having the tree cut down, or having its crown cut to make it safe is at no cost to members. However, removal of the debris is the member’s responsibility.