Lucas Crews from Maine in a parting shot with Co-op Safety Director Wayne Brackin.

“I think that I shall never see, A poem lovely as a tree.”

Said no electric lineman...ever.

We really don’t mean to throw shade on Joyce Kilmer’s classic poem “Trees” but the truth is trees are the primary cause of power outages. Even on a clear day. And when a Category 2 hurricane has just found second gear as it climbs the Carolina coast, trees soon come raining down, in whole or in part. And Tideland territory has lots of trees thanks to a robust timber trade (Beaufort County ranks first in the state), conservation easements, land trusts, hunting preserves and federal wildlife refuges.

That’s why Tideland spends $1.8 million a year to trim or remove trees in our rights of way. So the first big wave of personnel you’re likely to see during a storm break are Tideland’s vegetation teams, Lucas Tree Experts. They often blaze the trail for line construction crews by removing trees from the main three-phase circuits before turning their chainsaws loose on tap lines and then individual services. They trudge through swamps to free wire trapped under fallen trees and work from buckets to cut away tangled tree tops. They sort of put a whole new spin on the word “tree hugger.” And we’d like to give them a big ol’ hug for all their help.