UP WITH TREES, SOUTHERN HILLS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF OKLAHOMA and SCOTT WEYLAND, Eagle Scout - Tulsa

We all know that tall trees and power lines can be a bad mix, leading to costly and dangerous electrical outages.  When trees were deemed to be the chief culprits of frequent power problems in one of Tulsa’s most beautifully landscaped neighborhoods, Public Service Company of Oklahoma faced a difficult challenge.  How could the company balance its respect for trees while also providing safe and reliable service for customers?

They did it by forming a very deep partnership with the homeowners association for the Southern Hills neighborhood.  PSO methodically worked hand-in-hand with the homeowners to identify the vegetation that had to be trimmed or removed to ensure power quality.  Unfortunately, this also included many prized large trees along the neighborhood’s access streets.

The partnership was expanded to include Up With Trees and a replanting plan was agreed upon that would recreate the tree-line beauty along the roadways with more suitable, lower-growing trees, while addressing the power quality issue.  By the project’s end, more than 130 trees were planted in the public areas thanks, in part, to the efforts of Scott Weyland [“WAY-lund”] who organized his Eagle Scout troup to aid in the replanting activities.

“This lesson in partnerships should be taught around the nation,” our judges said, adding that the result not only averted an aesthetic disaster, it also left the areas with beauty and reliable power.

For excellence in fashioning a “win-win” solution out of a troublesome problem by inspiring cooperation through strong partnerships, tonight we salute Up With Trees, Public Service C