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Conservationists decry elimination of saguaros by APS
53 commentsby Ryan Randazzo - Jan. 30, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
A video on YouTube.com of Arizona Public Service Co. shredding saguaros near a power line outside Phoenix has fired up conservationists and led the utility to reassess its plans.
Tractors making their way along the power line have eliminated thousands of the plants for safety and to avoid fines from federal regulators, an APS official said.
The dustup highlights tough choices utilities make to maintain a reliable power supply and the limited options that land managers often have to balance utility paths with preserving plants and wildlife.
About 100 of the plants are being relocated when that is "possible and reasonable," but big mowers have whipped the majority into green pulp spread on the desert floor.
"It is strictly an issue of safety and reliability," APS spokesman Alan Bunnell said.
"No doubt, it is not an easy decision for us to remove any vegetation, especially a saguaro. We respect and admire those majestic plants."
APS has been clearing vegetation along the 500-kilovolt power line that runs 257 miles from the Navajo Generating Station near Page to a substation near Sun City.
Much of the route is high desert or forest, but so far 10 miles have been cleared in saguaro habitat, he said.
The iconic saguaros are strictly protected on public lands outside of utility right of ways.
Each mile of line has 100 to 500 saguaros in the right-of-way under the power lines, and there are 24 miles to be cleared, although there are fewer saguaros near the West Valley urban areas, he said.
All saguaros within 50 feet of the wires are being removed, according to the plan.
The lines are strung about 80 feet above the ground but sag to 60 feet between towers and can droop to 30 feet above ground in summer, Bunnell said.
Some plants are so close to wires they have to be harvested by hand. Bunnell said the company decided to clear brush under the line that was built in the late 1960s and early 1970s because federal regulators have clamped down on vegetation along power lines.
APS could be fined for not clearing the brush, he said. And electricity arcing from the power line into one of the water-dense saguaros or a brushfire could interrupt energy supplies.
It costs the company $750 to $2,500 per plant to relocate the saguaros, he said.
Bob Mitchell, a recreational prospector from Phoenix, was in the Black Canyon City area on Jan. 24 and filmed the big mower liquefying one of the saguaros.
He posted his video to prospecting Web site www.nugget shooter.com and on YouTube, and several readers shared their outrage on the prospecting discussion forum.
"To see a large company such as APS totally devastating their utility right of way . . . struck a nerve, frankly," he said.
"I understand they are within their rights to do so. Yet, I also believe it to be overly damaging and absolutely hypocritical to be allowed by the same agencies that keep such tight controls on us prospectors and claim owners."
The line crosses Bureau of Land Management, state, forest, tribal and private lands.
"This was a tough one," said Rem Hawes, the BLM manager who authorized the APS project on 27 miles of federal land.
"We've been happy to get them to relocate any of them," Hawes said.
"The bottom line is, they can do what they want (in the power-line right of way)."
Forty-nine of the saguaros under the power line on BLM land will be salvaged, he said.
It is otherwise illegal to remove saguaros from public lands, and landowners need a permit from the state Agriculture Department to move them from their own property.
The Agriculture Department investigates about 15 saguaro theft cases a year, said Jim McGinnis, special investigations supervisor.
"An individual who needs a quick buck takes a 7- or 8-footer and sells it," he said. "That happens probably more often than I like to think about."
McGinnis said the department could permit saguaros to be relocated from the right of way, but it is up to the landowners to request those permits.
BLM officials said selling the plants or even their skeletons, which are popular for landscaping and other decorations, was "simply off the table."
The agency decided that the plants should be shredded to preserve the soil nutrients, spokeswoman Pamela Mathis said. "It is a public-land object and it needs to be kept in place," she said.
Other landowners along the power line where saguaros are located could make other arrangements, she said.
Bunnell said APS can't sell the plants because it doesn't own the land.
Corporation Commission Chairwoman Kris Mayes asked APS to delay the shredding to see if something else can be done with the plants. "People have an emotional connection to saguaros," Mayes said. "This company needs to make sure it is doing everything it can to protect them when it can."
The commission has rules requiring that utilities must minimize the destruction of native plants when building power lines, but they don't extend to maintenance of power lines, she said. That might get reconsidered, she said.
Like some of the commentators on the prospecting Web site, Mayes questioned whether APS had documentation of power lines arcing to a saguaro and causing problems.
Bunnell said Wednesday that such an event once caused a Scottsdale wildfire, but he was unable to provide details.
Bunnell said it is common for the utility to remove plants, including saguaros, but that he understands the frustration when people see the process.
"It's nothing new, but it is a very visible location," he said. "And rightfully so, people have strong emotions about these plants."
The same thing happened to the natural-gas pipeline that cleared a wide right of way near Phoenix last year.
Pipeline workers were clearing saguaros until similar opposition flared up and led to the company, Transwestern Pipeline Co. hiring a local landscaping company to relocate some of the plants
53 commentsby Ryan Randazzo - Jan. 30, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
A video on YouTube.com of Arizona Public Service Co. shredding saguaros near a power line outside Phoenix has fired up conservationists and led the utility to reassess its plans.
Tractors making their way along the power line have eliminated thousands of the plants for safety and to avoid fines from federal regulators, an APS official said.
The dustup highlights tough choices utilities make to maintain a reliable power supply and the limited options that land managers often have to balance utility paths with preserving plants and wildlife.
About 100 of the plants are being relocated when that is "possible and reasonable," but big mowers have whipped the majority into green pulp spread on the desert floor.
"It is strictly an issue of safety and reliability," APS spokesman Alan Bunnell said.
"No doubt, it is not an easy decision for us to remove any vegetation, especially a saguaro. We respect and admire those majestic plants."
APS has been clearing vegetation along the 500-kilovolt power line that runs 257 miles from the Navajo Generating Station near Page to a substation near Sun City.
Much of the route is high desert or forest, but so far 10 miles have been cleared in saguaro habitat, he said.
The iconic saguaros are strictly protected on public lands outside of utility right of ways.
Each mile of line has 100 to 500 saguaros in the right-of-way under the power lines, and there are 24 miles to be cleared, although there are fewer saguaros near the West Valley urban areas, he said.
All saguaros within 50 feet of the wires are being removed, according to the plan.
The lines are strung about 80 feet above the ground but sag to 60 feet between towers and can droop to 30 feet above ground in summer, Bunnell said.
Some plants are so close to wires they have to be harvested by hand. Bunnell said the company decided to clear brush under the line that was built in the late 1960s and early 1970s because federal regulators have clamped down on vegetation along power lines.
APS could be fined for not clearing the brush, he said. And electricity arcing from the power line into one of the water-dense saguaros or a brushfire could interrupt energy supplies.
It costs the company $750 to $2,500 per plant to relocate the saguaros, he said.
Bob Mitchell, a recreational prospector from Phoenix, was in the Black Canyon City area on Jan. 24 and filmed the big mower liquefying one of the saguaros.
He posted his video to prospecting Web site www.nugget shooter.com and on YouTube, and several readers shared their outrage on the prospecting discussion forum.
"To see a large company such as APS totally devastating their utility right of way . . . struck a nerve, frankly," he said.
"I understand they are within their rights to do so. Yet, I also believe it to be overly damaging and absolutely hypocritical to be allowed by the same agencies that keep such tight controls on us prospectors and claim owners."
The line crosses Bureau of Land Management, state, forest, tribal and private lands.
"This was a tough one," said Rem Hawes, the BLM manager who authorized the APS project on 27 miles of federal land.
"We've been happy to get them to relocate any of them," Hawes said.
"The bottom line is, they can do what they want (in the power-line right of way)."
Forty-nine of the saguaros under the power line on BLM land will be salvaged, he said.
It is otherwise illegal to remove saguaros from public lands, and landowners need a permit from the state Agriculture Department to move them from their own property.
The Agriculture Department investigates about 15 saguaro theft cases a year, said Jim McGinnis, special investigations supervisor.
"An individual who needs a quick buck takes a 7- or 8-footer and sells it," he said. "That happens probably more often than I like to think about."
McGinnis said the department could permit saguaros to be relocated from the right of way, but it is up to the landowners to request those permits.
BLM officials said selling the plants or even their skeletons, which are popular for landscaping and other decorations, was "simply off the table."
The agency decided that the plants should be shredded to preserve the soil nutrients, spokeswoman Pamela Mathis said. "It is a public-land object and it needs to be kept in place," she said.
Other landowners along the power line where saguaros are located could make other arrangements, she said.
Bunnell said APS can't sell the plants because it doesn't own the land.
Corporation Commission Chairwoman Kris Mayes asked APS to delay the shredding to see if something else can be done with the plants. "People have an emotional connection to saguaros," Mayes said. "This company needs to make sure it is doing everything it can to protect them when it can."
The commission has rules requiring that utilities must minimize the destruction of native plants when building power lines, but they don't extend to maintenance of power lines, she said. That might get reconsidered, she said.
Like some of the commentators on the prospecting Web site, Mayes questioned whether APS had documentation of power lines arcing to a saguaro and causing problems.
Bunnell said Wednesday that such an event once caused a Scottsdale wildfire, but he was unable to provide details.
Bunnell said it is common for the utility to remove plants, including saguaros, but that he understands the frustration when people see the process.
"It's nothing new, but it is a very visible location," he said. "And rightfully so, people have strong emotions about these plants."
The same thing happened to the natural-gas pipeline that cleared a wide right of way near Phoenix last year.
Pipeline workers were clearing saguaros until similar opposition flared up and led to the company, Transwestern Pipeline Co. hiring a local landscaping company to relocate some of the plants
