About this episode

Joe DeLong discusses how a small municipal utility reduced tree-caused outages by 41% through innovative vegetation management strategies.

Get the latest updates from our LinkedIn page! https://onelink.to/treesandlines Welcome back to another episode of the Trees & Lines podcast. Joe DeLong, Forester for the City of Westerville Electric Division, joins hosts Philip Charlton, Ph.D. and Tej Singh to discuss how a small municipal utility reduced tree-caused outages by 41%. Joe shares his journey from climbing trees in the field to leading the vegetation management program for Westerville, a public power utility serving just 12 square miles. Faced with areas that hadn't been touched in over 10 years and limited resources, Joe implemented satellite imagery, standardized ANSI practices, and built a comprehensive tree replacement program that turned pushback into community buy-in. The conversation covers how satellite imagery integrated with existing city systems to create visibility across the entire system, why Joe maintains both satellite data and a manual tracking backup system, how a free tree replacement program reduced resident complaints and improved urban canopy, and why requiring all crew members to become certified arborists elevated the entire team's capabilities. Joe also discusses the challenges of…

People in this episode

Hosts: Philip Charlton, Tej Singh

Guest: Joe DeLong

Topics covered

• vegetation management
• municipal utilities
• tree replacement
• community engagement
• data-driven decision making
• technology in management

Keywords

• vegetation management
• tree replacement
• municipal utility
• satellite imagery
• community buy-in
• arborists
• urban canopy
• data-driven decisions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: City of Westerville Electric Division, Iapetus Infrastructure Services

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