TREE TRAUMA ON HIGHWAY 156 A pile of pine tree logs and a four foot stump is all that remains of a beautiful old pine tree that died along the right of way on Highway 156 at Stephen Creek Community. “Over a month ago a contractor hired by Sam Houston Electric Cooperative butchered this tree and left its ugly remains scattered along our fence line” says land owner Bud Daugherty. “In a telephone call to the supervisor with SHECO, we were told clean up is a non existent option. We cut ‘em and leave ‘em. We’ve NEVER cleaned up the cut trees in my 49 years on this job.” How sad! The right-of-way was given by the settlers who farmed, raised their families here, built churches & schools and were promised that the right of ways would always be respected and taken care of in the manner they were given. “I remember my Grandfather, Ed Hopkins, talking about ‘when the highway came through’ and the large easement that was wanted and how much land he was giving away” says Granddaughter Arnette Hopkins Daugherty. “Now it seems we have Management and Board of Directors who have forgotten where they received these properties and are only interested in looking good on their reports.” Certainly we understand the cost of tree removal in this forested county and others. Downed trees in the forest turn into wonderful homes for the small animals and make fertilizer over the years but we’re talking about cut trees left upfront on the county and state highway right-of-way system, sadly marring the highways and by-ways. In my opinion, it seems SHECO should have had a plan for this problem instead of grouping highway right-of-ways with the clean up of pastures and forest lands. I feel if they actually separated the situation of highway removal from that of pasture and forest lands, they would see a huge number reduction of trees requiring removal. SHECO’s service area includes portions of the following counties: Angelina, Trinity, Polk, Tyler, Jasper, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Liberty, Hardin, and Walker. Land owners whose property lines are along the highway right-of-way seemingly have no rights anymore. “SHECO can cut your trees at their discretion, leave them forever laying and there is no cooperation on their part. We were so proud of our new wood fence across the front of our property and how nice it looked. Now we have this pile of riffraff logs! Uncooperative SHECO!” says Mrs. Daugherty. “TXDOT and the Texas State Highway Department remove all advertisements and signs along the highway right-of-ways, including those promoting community efforts such as Trash-and-Treasure, so why is SHECO permitted to leave their unsightly mess there, on our right-of-ways?” Concerned Citizens
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 04:08:06 +0000
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