We have lived in our house on the corner of North Myrtle and Frozen Creek Road since 1979. We paid off the mortgage several years ago. It is a big part of our retirement investments. We have 18+acres of forestland. Pacific Power has a transmission line that transverses about 16000 ft.of our property along/above Frozen Creek Rd. Over the years, Pacific Power has "removed" hundreds of trees and pruned others without complaint or reimbursement, except in 2001, when we consulted an attorney about them punching a cat road in, thousands of feet off the easement. The attorney told us they had the right to do it. We did not ask for nor were we offered any compensation. They have always trimmed the trees along the 180ft. fence around our yard. This provided shade and a privacy and noise buffer.
Around May 6th, I was met in my driveway by a person from Trees Inc., the PP contractors. I was told they were working in our area and would be cutting on our property soon. In the past we have always recieved a letter from PP informing us, which we did not this time. A different person from Trees Inc. came by a few days later and told me all the trees around our front yard would have to be " removed". I asked " what has changed, why now?" He said " good question, why now?" He said I should contact the Pacific Power Forester. We did and met Joe Partridge, the PP arborist and Charlie Morris of Trees Inc. on May 25th. Joe said they would take measurements and see what trees could be left , what could be pruned , and what trees would have to be "removed". A couple of days later, they retuned and said all trees in the right of way would be "removed". We asked if we could have a tree service prune and maintain the trees shading the yard.They said they can't do that. We asked if they could wait until we could sell the house and move. Joe asked if I was serious, and I said yes.He said they couldn't wait. We asked if our little bamboo grove and little 5yr old maple had to go. He said he wasn't sure.We asked "if you are insisting on "removing"them could we please"harvest them ourselves?" He said yes. Trees Inc. started cutting June 15. When I saw they were cutting large merchantable trees that were not in the line, I told them we wanted trees left in tree length logs so we could determine volume. On June 22, what bamboo they didn't steal, they chopped up, except for 12 small pieces. Also they cut the little maple. I emailed Joe and told him we wanted to be reimbursed for the timber and have the brush piled for later burning. That is what they did for a friend who lives under the same line.He said they have different agreements with different landowners,and we don't burn brush. Now the logs are in the roadside ditch and draped dangerously on the cutbank above the road. Yesterday, while trying to get this complaint filed I got a call from Charlie telling me the county road department is giving me 48 hours to get the logs out of the ditch. I told him I didn't put them in the ditch. He said "if we have to remove them they won't be merchantable any more". I believe we are being abused and ripped off for no reason. If this were truly about safety they would be cutting everything under wire everywhere, and they are not. A link to before and after pictures is http://adamandroid.com/7666 Thank you for your help in this matter, Craig and Kathy Wheeler
7666 N Myrtle Rd
Myrtle Creek, Or., 97457
541-863-4978
