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National Grid offering reimbursements for tree planting in St. Lawrence County

Posted 2/15/16

Upstate New York municipalities served by National Grid, including those in St. Lawrence County, are eligible to get some of the planting costs offset for selecting and placing appropriate low …

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National Grid offering reimbursements for tree planting in St. Lawrence County

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Upstate New York municipalities served by National Grid, including those in St. Lawrence County, are eligible to get some of the planting costs offset for selecting and placing appropriate low growing trees through a $50 reimbursement per tree.

National Grid’s 10,000 Trees program was developed in 1999 to assist Upstate New York municipalities that sustained extensive street and urban forest tree losses during the ice and wind storms of 1998.

“The program is designed to promote the placement of low growing trees to significantly avoid or minimize utility line conflicts in the future,” National Grid spokesperson Virginia Limmiatis said. “Tree plantings in the right place can help to reduce or eliminate line clearance tree pruning and minimize storm related tree disruptions and damages to National Grid’s overhead electricity distribution system.”

“Over my 44 years of experience as an arborist I’ve learned a few things about trees,” said Brian Skinner, National Grid senior arborist. “It was during the aftermath of the ice and Labor Day storms of 1998 that devastated thousands of trees and caused widespread outages, when municipalities came to better understand the importance of planting the right tree in the right place. Our 10,000 Trees program is a great means to incentivize municipalities to plant responsibly, and it continues to grow in popularity today.”

The National Grid 10,000 Trees program is open to all municipalities and county agencies responsible for tree and urban forest management within the National Grid Upstate New York electric service area. Not-for-profit tree committees, operating for and approved by a municipality through a supporting resolution, may also apply.

Customers can visit National Grid’s website at www.nationalgridus.com to review a list of recommended low growing tree species and guidelines.

For information related to recommended tree species or planting techniques, customers can contact the local Cornell Cooperative Extension in Canton or NYS Department of Environmental Conservation or visit the Cornell Urban Horticulture Institute website at www.hort.cornell.edu.