Right Tree, Right Place, a cooperative program between BGE and Anne Arundel County, has placed new plant material along the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail Park. The program has also improved BGE’s ability to deliver electric service to its customers. This program identifies hazardous trees or inappropriate species along BGE transmission lines and replaces the tree with a new tree that will help the company avoid repeated tree trimming work and power outages in the future.

BGE Forrester Danny Davis is in charge of the program. He reports that his crews first survey the right of way and identify potential hazard trees and any tree that will grow into the lines in the future. Next the landowners are contacted and BGE offers to remove the tree at company expense and replace it with an ornamental that will provide beauty, and shade without interfering with the power lines. In the long run the company hopes to secure delivery of electricity and reduce maintenance costs.

David Dionne, Superintendent of Trails and Greenways for Anne Arundel County, thinks the program is great. “The Right Tree Right Place program is an asset for the trails. It has improve visitor safety and security, saved a considerable amount of money in our park maintenance budget, and added several beautiful ornamental trees to the trail parks. The trees removed from trail property were less than ideal specimens. These trees had been trimmed too often and could never thrive because of their proximity to the power lines. In some places we definitely had the wrong tree in the wrong place.”  

Right Tree Right Place changed all of that. BGE started the RTRP Program in 2003.  Through successful partnerships with municipalities such as Anne Arundel Co. BGE has been able to remove thousands of tall-growing trees from under our main power lines since 2003.  In exchange for the removals, BGE has planted over 2,400 replacement trees, most of them near the location of the removed tree but replaced with a low-growing species that will not interfere with our wires nor require unnecessary pruning of the trees.

Dan Davis added “The recent project at the B & A Trail was a great example of cooperation between Dave Dionne and his Recreation and Parks staff and the neighbors most impacted by the project.  The removal and replacement of 168 trees along the trail will be most noticed when the planted flowering trees bloom in the spring”.

Elizabeth Wyble, President of the Friends of Anne Arundel County Trails agreed. “We worked very closely with BGE Forrester Danny Davis and his staff in the selection and placement of the replacement trees. BGE offered us Snowgoose Cherry, Crabapple, Crape Myrtle, Eastern Redbud, Kousa Dogwood, and Serviceberry that will begin to flower this Spring. Some of the White Pines that were removed were replaced with Nellie Stevens Holly and Emerald Green Arborvitae”. 

BGE plans to install several plaques along the trail this Spring to educate the hikers along the trail about the RTRP concept.  Through removal of the tall trees under the power lines, BGE hopes to averted unnecessary power outages to all of the residents and businesses along the trail.