Forest Health Issues Program

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Large numbers of dead or dying mountain pine beetle-infested trees are threatening thousands of kilometres of BC Hydro distribution lines throughout the Interior.

The risks

Once a pine beetle-infested tree dies, decay agents erode stem and root strength, eventually allowing the tree to fall. Toppling trees can contact power lines, causing outages and reducing electrical service reliability. Dead or dying trees adjacent to power lines also present an elevated risk of wildfire ignition and other serious public safety issues.

BC Hydro’s plan

To mitigate these risks, BC Hydro has developed the Forest Health Issues Program team. The team works with landowners, government agencies, and other stakeholders to plan and implement the safe felling and management of beetle-infested trees.

The focus of the program is to identify, prioritize and safely cut down hazard trees, up to one-and-a-half tree lengths of primary distribution lines on Crown or private lands. BC Hydro will use qualified contractors to assess individual trees and stands of trees to determine a hazard rating relative to the electrical distribution system. Strategic work plans are developed based on the magnitude of associated risk – generally, a "worst-first" approach.

Landowners whose trees pose a risk will be contacted by a BC Hydro consenting contractor, who will identify trees for felling, discuss operational procedures, mark the trees and acquire the consent of the landowner for that work to proceed.

Once BC Hydro has gained consents across an adequate area, tree felling works are compiled and tendered to qualified contractors, including those with access to Certified Utility Arborists. Safely felling hazardous trees near power lines requires specialized training and BC Hydro strongly urges that landowners do not attempt to carry out this work on their own.

The landowner's role

There is no cost to landowners for the assessment or felling of at-risk trees. However, subsequent debris management and clean-up is the responsibility of the tree owner.

Individual service lines – that run from the BC Hydro system to individual homes – are not covered under this program.