![]() ![]() Invasive shrubs, such as autumn olive, buckthorn, and multiflora rose, can expand across the right of way, restricting workers’ access to utility poles and lines. Reintroducing vegetation along Colorado Highway 67Įven though these shrubs won’t grow to a height to directly interfere with power lines, they present another concern. On the other hand, the utility is not troubled by the growth of small shrubs, but Johnstone has stressed that Credit Dave Banovich As Johnstone explains, “The electric company can’t have such trees growing under power wires-they interfere with the power lines and can cause a massive power outage,” as occurred in much of the northeastern US in 2003. The electric company is concerned with the growth of silver maple, red maple, oaks, ash, and pines. Such is the case with Stony Creek Metropark, located about 26 miles from downtown Detroit. The park might work to accommodate the needs of the utility, and the utility in turn might go beyond its own requirements to facilitate those of the park. Johnstone has found, however, that often the two entities can work smoothly together to form a nice synergy. But park personnel may well want even these small weeds to be controlled. For example, the utility company might not be particularly concerned about small weeds because they won’t grow tall enough to be troublesome to power lines. Johnstone notes that when a local power utility has equipment within park boundaries, as in Stony Creek Metropark, the utility may have one set of needs from a vegetation management standpoint, while the park has different priorities. The group works to resolve vegetation management problems, control invasive weeds, and improve wildlife habitat. IVM Partners is a nonprofit corporation acting as a liaison among industry, public agencies, conservation groups, and academia to promote best vegetation management practices. ![]() He is the owner of Vegetation Management with Environmental Stewardship LLC, as well as the president of Integrated Vegetation Management Partners (IVM Partners). Credit: ITC HoldingsĪlso in the park are high-powered transmission lines belonging to ITC Holdings, an independent electric transmission company. Wildlife, such as osprey, wild turkeys, and deer, are found in the park as well. Within the park is the 500-acre Stony Creek Lake miles of trails for mountain biking, hiking, jogging, inline skating, and bicycling snowboarding and sledding hills two beaches a nature center an 18-hole golf course and considerably more. ![]() One of these Metropark facilities is known as Stony Creek, comprising 4,461 acres of scenic, hilly terrain, in addition to prairies and swamps. The Metropark complex consists of a ring of 13 parks located along Michigan’s Huron and Clinton Rivers, forming a greenbelt around the Detroit metropolitan area. ![]()
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