PEC trimming trees throughout valley
Pedernales Electric Cooperative has been trimming trees along the power lines in the Wimberley Valley for a few weeks now. Due to the time of the year, many have expressed concern about the practice spreading oak wilt.
“Oak wilt is an infectious disease caused by the fungus Bretziella fagacearum, which invades and disables the water-conducting system (xylem) in oaks,” texasoakwilt.org said.
Oak wilt can be spread below ground, through tree’s root system, or above ground when beetles carrying the fungus bore into open cuts in the tree.
Jason Mangold, Ag and Natural Resource Agent for Hays County, explained that this is not the preferred time of year for trimming oak trees; however, there are steps that can be put in place to prevent the spread of Oak Wilt.
“We normally tell people from the end of March … to the end of July typically you don’t want to cut your trees,” Mangold said. “… That is when the beetles are out. We recommend starting in August and through he first part of March without spray.”
The pruning spray is put on all open cuts of a tree to keep the beetles out.
“Basically it looks like a can of spray paint and wherever you cut you want to spray every inch of that with pruning spray to seal it so the beetles can’t get inside and infect the tree,” Mangold said.
PEC said that the cooperative has more than 12,000 miles of overhead lines throughout the Texas Hill Country.
“Because PEC is on a five year cycle, we must trim vegetation year around in order to maintain the safety and reliability of our system,” Mike Viesca, spokesman for PEC, said. “Wimberley is part of that cycle, and our goal is to return to the area no sooner than three to five years. We take every precaution to prevent the spread of oak wilt. Additionally, PEC has eight International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certified arborists on staff, four of which are certified Utility Arborists and two who have been qualified by the Texas ISA in oak wilt identification and prevention.”
PEC hires contractors to trim trees.
“The contractor acknowledges that its employees have been properly trained in the recognition, treatment, and prevention of oak wilt disease; the contractor also acknowledges that established oak wilt management techniques will be practiced at all times,” Viesca said. “All fresh wounds (inclusive of saw, pruned, superficial and stump cuts) regardless of size, on all oak species, shall be treated with an approved quality tree wound dressing or latex paint immediately after pruning or tree removal. This treatment applies at all times of the year. Large cuts from previous trimming shall be repainted if necessary. All saws and pruning equipment shall be properly disinfected with a bleach mixture or Lysol before work commences and at the time of transference from one tree to the next.”
PEC said that their arborists are “not always on site during the cutting of trees;” however, “PEC audits the work of all its contractors prior to payment for the work performed.”