I can’t help but notice a huge contrast between an Alliant Energy press release published Oct. 27 and a letter to the editor from John Judd of Cromwell Nov. 11.
The Oct. 27 press release was touting the thousands of dollars in trees planted through the Alliant Energy Trees Forever program by local 4-H and FFA chapters and Southwetern Community College’s agriculture department.
Judd’s letter to the editor berated the “Alliant tree butchers” for their trimming methods.
According to the press release, Alliant Energy provides funding to organizations that can match the grant through in-kind services, labor or other monetary means, Trees Forever administers the program and provides technical and on-site assistance. Community volunteers plan and choose sites, select species, order trees and enlist community volunteers and additional funding support. Thirty-one Iowa communities and organizations received $104,606 in funding for local tree planting projects in 2011.
Southwestern Community College agriculture department and Creston FFA chapter planted 42 deciduous and 17 evergreen trees valued at $9,810 with one of those grants secured from Alliant Energy’s Trees Forever program. The planting sites included the new student dorms, Spartan Drive, agriculture campus, Crest Ridge Estates and McKinley Park.
Judd said, “These ‘professionals’ are particularly adept at hacking a well-proportioned, beautifully symmetrical tree into such a grotesque parody of nature that even Edward Scissorhands would be ashamed. They leave behind hidden lawnmower-killer chunks of debris to add punitive spring surprises to our schedules.”
I know personally what Judd is talking about. My husband and I own property in Cromwell that is, or was, surrounded by beautiful long-needled pine trees that I understand were planted by 4-H or FFA many years ago.
A couple of years ago, Alliant’s “professional arborist subcontractors.” as they like to refer to them, trimmed those trees. One was butchered so badly it died and we had to have it taken down. The others just plain looked horrible.
Again, a few months ago, the tree trimmers, under the auspices of Alliant Energy, trimmed those same trees.
Both times they have left large branches hanging from the tops of trees, and we have to load them into a trailer and take them to the compost pile when ever a slightly stronger-than-average breeze blows them down.
Our property is located across the street from Judd’s, which is a full block of mature trees, mostly of the evergreen variety. Many of his trees are beyond repair.
The Alliant tree trimmers don’t trim trees. They hack at one side. Some limbs are trimmed two feet from a line and some at 10 feet. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason.
The Allaint tree trimmers are in Creston now, and I notice their tactics are the same.
In order to save these trees, we will have to hire a real professional tree trimmer and spend several hundreds of dollars.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Alliant Energy is spending money to plant trees, and then when they become mature, beautiful trees they spend more money to have them butchered. I have to assume the money they are spending comes from those of us who are using their utilities or taxpayer grants.
Then we taxpayers/utility users must spend more money to make this right.