Don Kirchenberg, Voluntary Chairman of the Friends of the Great Western Trails
has issued a statement about the continued failure by Commonwealth Edison - Com Ed
to agree to plans to trim tree everywhere including the trails in a healthy manner.

Kirchenberg stated “In a telephone conversation with DuPage County Board member
Jeff Redick (Chairman of DuPage County's Environmental Committee) this morning (12/4)
he told me that Com Ed has backed out of replanting of trees (they killed over 3,000 trees
on the trails in early 2009) and they will not agree with any efforts to develop a healthy
tree trimming standard.”

Kirchenberg continues “Com Ed has failed to agree to any healthy trimming of the trees
and continues to refuse to answer our questions (listed below). I would suggest that now
more than ever we need the IL Commerce Commission - ICC and our representatives in IL
government to take action and support the efforts of trail users, DuPage County Board
members Rita Gonzalez, Dirk Enger and Tony Michelassi and require Com Ed to trim trees
in a healthy manner and set that standard.

Kirchenberg concludes “We need the ICC and all our representatives at the state level
to act because Com Ed is damaging the environment and believe they are above the law
and any agencies that should be regulating them. We encourage all supporters of the trails
and trees everywhere to contact their representatives and the ICC about Com Ed’s butchering
of the trees everywhere along with plans to clear cut and spray herbicides along our trails.

For your information we have restated the questions presented to
DuPage County and Commonwealth Edison in 2002 about similar plans
to clear cut trees and spray herbicides along the trails in DuPage County.
These are appropriate today and should still be answered over 7.5 years later.

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED to Com Ed and DuPage County in April 2002 The
board of directors has many concerns regarding the proposed plan.  These concerns
are in three categories:

• General:
• Com Ed asserts that tree removal is necessary. Is Com Ed required to do this
• by a government agency? What documentation has been given that trees along IPP and other trails have caused outages?  And if so, what types of trees are the causes of the problem?
• What is the cost/benefit analysis of the proposed vegetation maintenance plan over Com Ed's current practices?
• Have similar vegetation removal programs been enacted in other areas, and have these projects been deemed successful by the utility and the public? What were the lessons learned?
• What impartial agency or group endorses the types of vegetation control proposed by Com Ed?
• Process:
• When is this program proposed to begin, and what portions of the year will this program be executed? What days of the week and time of day will tree removal and spraying occurs?
• How will the County provide impartial and objective oversight with Com Ed and their subcontractors?
• What criteria have been set to determine if these tests are successful? What time lines will be followed to measure these tests against the set criteria?
• When will the County schedule a follow up hearing to determine whether the project was a success?                                                          
• How will Commonwealth Edison guarantee that preferred species,  and species currently supporting wildlife (trees with nests), will be saved?
• There is discussion of planting 6" to 18" tall replacement trees. Will Com Ed commit to this replanting, and on what scale? What is the expected rate of mortality? If this rate is exceeded, are there any further plans for replacement? Who will maintain these replacement trees? How long will it take before new trees grow to the maturity as replacements?
• Many of the areas to be impacted by the tree removal plan are on slopes.  The soils on these slopes are prone to erosion. What steps will be taken to ensure these slopes are protected from erosion?
• Herbicides:
• What are the exact herbicides that Commonwealth Edison and its subcontractors plan to use, and what are the potential health risks to humans,  the ecology, and the environment associated with each herbicide? What is an acceptable level of exposure, and how will the contractor ensure this acceptable exposure is not exceeded?
• What is the contractor's liability for unintended damage to human health, wildlife, vegetation, if problems result in any way or arise out of its herbicide application program? If undue damage is caused, how will Com Ed ameliorate the damage?
• How will the contractor ensure that soil, groundwater and surface waters will not be contaminated?
• How close to residential homes and parks will the spraying take place, and will residents be given advance notice?

Until these questions have been answered, we cannot support the “vegetation management plan” proposed by Com Ed and DuPage County.

If you agree that we should get answers to these questions please contact the
members of the DuPage County Board including Chairman Schillerstrom using
the email addresses:

The board of directors has many concerns regarding the proposed plan.
These concerns are in three categories:

General:

        And if so, what types of trees are the causes of the problem?

• What is the cost/benefit analysis of the proposed vegetation maintenance plan over Com Ed's current practices?
• Have similar vegetation removal programs been enacted in other areas, and have these projects been deemed successful by the utility and the public?                          What were the lessons learned?
• What impartial agency or group endorses the types of vegetation control proposed by Com Ed?

Process:

• When is this program proposed to begin, and what portions of the year will this program be executed? What days of the week and time of day                                will tree removal and spraying occur?
• How will the County provide impartial and objective oversight with Com Ed and their subcontractors?
• What criteria has been set to determine if these tests are successful? What time lines will be followed to measure these tests against the                                        set criteria?
• When will the County schedule a follow up hearing to determine                                  whether the project was a success?
• How will Commonwealth Edison guarantee that preferred species, and species currently supporting wildlife (trees with nests), will be saved?
• There is discussion of planting 6" to 18" tall replacement trees. Will Com Ed commit to this replanting, and on what scale? What is the expected                                     rate of mortality? If this rate is exceeded, are there any further plans for replacement? Who will maintain these replacement trees? How long will it take before new trees grow to the maturity as replacements?
• Many of the areas to be impacted by the tree removal plan are on slopes. The soils on these slopes are prone to erosion. What steps will be taken to                        ensure these slopes are protected from erosion?

Herbicide:

• What are the exact herbicides that Commonwealth Edison and its                                subcontractors plan to use, and what are the potential health risks to humans, the ecology, and the environment associated with each herbicide? What is an              acceptable level of exposure, and how will the contractor ensure this                acceptable exposure is not exceeded?
• What is the contractor's liability for unintended damage to human health,                   wildlife, vegetation, if problems result in any way or arise out of its herbicide    application program? If undue damage is caused, how will Com Ed ameliorate the damage?
• How will the contractor ensure that soil, groundwater and surface waters will not be contaminated?
• How close to residential homes and parks will the spraying take place, and will  residents be given advance notice?

Until these questions have been answered, we cannot support the Vegetation                  management plan proposed by Com Ed and DuPage County.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Consider sending your letters to your elected officials
and to the following newspapers:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], 
[email protected] and copy us at [email protected] 

Please be sure to add the Great Western Trail in the letters too because
Com Ed plans to destroy the natural beauty of both trails with clearcutting
and herbicides. Just add your phone number on the bottom of the letter
so the newspapers can contact you to confirm you wrote the letter.
They will not publish the phone number.

Letters to Editor 10/31/09:

Trails are the loser in ComEd chopping

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/opinions/letters/1854421,6_4_NA30_LETTERS_S1-091030.article

No more herbicides on Prairie Path

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=332950&src=

Thank you to the letter writers for their
sincere concerns and varied approach
to these important matters.

Members of the DuPage County Board Rita Gonzalez, District 1; Tony Michelassi, District 5 and
Dirk Enger District 6 remain  concerned about Com Ed’s tree replacement plan approved this
week by both the Environmental and Transportation Committees  because at the meeting
of the Environmental Committee of the DuPage County Board held on 10/20/09 Deborah Fagan
the Trails Coordinator for DuPage County announcedfor the first time to the committee that
Com Ed “has killed over 3,000 trees on our trails” in the recent trimming cycle. And she said
that Com Ed wants to replace only 750 trees. In addition they will not water or care for these
trees after they are planted. Plus no guarantees are in place when an estimated 250 die –
using a formula from an expert from the DuPage County Forest Preserve District at a meeting
of the Ad Hoc Trails Committee on 9/16/09 when trees are not watered or given any care after
they are planted.

These 3 board members want everyone to know that  the equation Com Ed wants the taxpayers
in DuPage County to accept is that for every 6 of our trees on our trails that they kill off while
“trimming them” they will only give us 1 back. This formula is based on them killing over 3,000
trees and having 500 trees of the 750 planted survive. Gonzalez, Michelassi and Enger agree
“The cost of the 3,000+ trees they killed along the Great Western Trails and IL Prairie Path is
difficult to imagine and estimate. And the loss of the natural look, feel and wildlife habitats is
even worse. Also thousands of homeowners lose trees every year because of the “trimming
practices” of Com Ed and their contractor Asplundh. We need DuPage County to enact a
healthy trimming standard with Com Ed like other communities have in place. And we need
the ICC to hold a public hearing about Com Ed’s damage to the trees and trails.”

Gonzalez, Michelassi and Enger conclude “when DuPage County Board members on the
Transportation and Environmental Committees tell you they are supporting this good deal
with Com Ed because “it is of no cost to us.” Ask them how much the taxpayers are paying
when we lose 6 trees and get 1 in return?

Here is a list of the DuPage County Board members on the Environmental  and Transportation
Committees that should be contacted by citizens concerned about Com Ed’s tree maintenance
and plans to replace a few trees  Environmental Committee: Jeff Redick, Chair;
Michael McMahon, Vice Chair; Members  Linda Kurzawa, Anthony Michelassi and
Debra Olson Send an email to all of them using these email address: [email protected];[email protected];[email protected];
[email protected];[email protected];   Transportation Committee:
Donald Puchalski, Chair; James Healy, Vice Chair; Members John Curran, JR McBride, Brien Sheahan, James Zay Send an email to all of them using these email address: [email protected];[email protected];[email protected]; [email protected];[email protected];[email protected]

Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune

County Board member calls for tree query

DuPage County Board member Rita Gonzalez, D-Addison, renewed her call Tuesday for an investigation into "poor tree maintenance" by ComEd along the Illinois Prairie Path and suggested increased efforts to draw public input.

The District 1 representative is one of many county residents who have complained that the pruning efforts of the utility's contractor, Asplundh Tree Expert Co., have been overly aggressive. The trimming, they allege, has left many old-growth trees lopped off awkwardly, removing far more than necessary in routine trimming around power lines.

Gonzalez last month filed a complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission in which she asked for stricter enforcement of requirements that tree maintenance practices be conducted "in a healthy manner."

"I have heard from many residents that want the damage to their trees and property values to stop," said Gonzalez, who encouraged her fellow board members to join the effort. "The ICC has the power to stop this damage."

The excessive use of herbicides along the Prairie Path and the adjacent Great Western Trail also must be addressed by the state, she said.

According to Gonzalez, some homeowners have lost sections of trees up to 30 feet long that are unlikely ever to grow back.

ComEd Senior Vice President Calvin Butler has acknowledged that trees and vegetation are important elements of the trails system, but notes that electrical outages often result from contact between wires and trees.

"We firmly believe that providing reliable electricity and sustaining our natural environment can go hand-in-hand. ... Throughout the country many communities have successfully balanced the need for reliable electricity with governmental tree clearance standards and local concern for the environment," Butler wrote in a letter to The Sun earlier this month.

ComEd spokesman Peter Pedraza told The Sun that the herbicide program would be limited to three specific areas — one on the Prairie Path and two on the Great Western Trail — and that only conforming chemicals would be used. Licensed professionals would be responsible for applying the herbicides, Pedraza said.

Gonzalez has suggested that public meetings about the issue be scheduled during the evening, to enable maximum numbers of interested resident to attend.

"My constituents have spoken, and they really are sincere about this issue," she said. ###
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1688959,prairie-path-tree-probe_NA072909.article

Watch this space and website for current environmental news.

THE PUBLIC CONTINUES TO SPEAK OUT to protect the trees, trails and trail users including the wildlife.

Here is a short and to the point letter from a great friend of the environment...

Fake Tree Hugger Unmasked

One has only to look at Commonwealth Edison's record, as evidenced by the dire condition of trees near their wires along the Illinois Prairie Path, to know that its claims of "tree hugging" are pure public relations claptrap designed to prevent any positive change in their maintenance policies. Surely we can have both a reliable electricity supply and a healthy and aesthetic trail system that can be used and appreciated by citizens of all ages.

Mary F. Warren
Wheaton, IL 60187

We encourage you to send in your letters
to the following newspapers via these
email addresses: [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected], [email protected] , 
[email protected], [email protected] and
[email protected] add others you would like.
Please let us know when you see your letter and others
about these topics in the newspapers.
And consider contacting the elected officials
detailed below too.

Public Utility Complaint Form

Cutting comments

Concerns raised about tree trimming along Prairie Path

Concerns about what has been described as "indiscriminate destruction of trees" have surfaced recently, voiced by residents living along portions of the Illinois Prairie Path.

On June 8, newly-elected DuPage County Board member Rita Gonzalez called for the board "to work harder to protect the trees, trails and trail users including the wildlife habitats along the Great Western Trail and Illinois Prairie Path."

» Click to enlarge image

Power lines run along the Prairie Path in Glen Ellyn. DuPage County Board member Rita Gonzalez recently stated her concern that trees along the path may be trimmed improperly. Jonathan Miano / Staff photographer

The paths lead through Wheaton and Glen Ellyn.

Gonzalez said that ComEd's contractor, Asplundh "is chopping the tops off trees, leaving no branches to grow instead of trimming them in a healthy manner as required by state regulations."

In a phone interview with The Sun, Gonzalez said she has spoken about the issue with various groups interested in the Prairie Path and the Great Western Trail, including Friends of the Great Western Trail, garden clubs and other not-for-profit groups. She said many perceive a problem, especially along an area of the path near Longfellow and Bryant avenues in Glen Ellyn.

"I realize the utility company has to keep the power lines free, but we're not talking about removing just a few leaves or branches," Gonzalez said. "There are places where people have told me as much as 30 feet of limbs have been removed, and while these areas may bud with leaves, the groups I've spoken with say they are never going to grow back (fully)."

Gonzalez also said she has learned that a planned herbicide program has been announced which raises concerns among residents as well.

"We believe the herbicide treatment might be harmful to the plants and wildlife in the area," Gonzalez said. "We also have concerns about the effect on the water system. I serve on the Environmental Committee (of the County Board), which is one of my responsibilities, and we are calling for ComEd to follow ... regulations."

Peter Pedraza, a spokesman for ComEd, said that the company "remains committed to the wooded areas in the community" and that the company must continue "to strike a balance between maintaining the public safety and the reliability of the transmission lines."

"Some people may recall the blackout issues back in 2003 on the East Coast which were all created by problems due to trees," Pedraza said. "We follow regulations, plus the area in question there is governed by both state and federal agencies."

Pedraza said the utility company met May 19 with the DuPage County Board to present its proposals for the area and that ComEd officials "are looking forward to continuing discussions and reaching agreement about performing work in the area."

"We have highlighted the restoration of plants and we look forward to more discussion with the county to resolve this issue as soon as possible," he said.

Regarding the herbicide issue, Gonzalez said she was awaiting receipt of a video which would explain the program.

Podraza said the herbicide program would involve only three specific areas, one on the Prairie Path and two on the Great Western Trail, and that the application would be performed exclusively by licensed professionals.

"We don't use products that are formulated specifically for ComEd," he said. "They all conform to the required regulations."
###
Note the news article is incorrect because Rita Gonzalez is concerned about all the trees and bushes along all the trails. The area on the IPP between Longfellow and Bryant was visited to see a sample of the damage done by Com Ed's contractor (Asplundh) on all the trails in DuPage County.

Trail advocate asks for local patrols

Great Western Trails (Illinois)

FROM WIKIPEDIA
The Great Western Trail is a rail trail in Illinois.

It occupies two non-contiguous sections of an abandoned Chicago Great Western Railway corridor in suburban Chicago that have been converted into biking and hiking trails.

1 Western section, 2 Eastern section, 3 See also, 4 References, 5 External links

The western-most, and older, section of the Great Western Trail is located between western St. Charles in Kane County and eastern Sycamore in DeKalb County. This section was right-of-way that was abandoned in 1977. The eighteen-mile crushed-stone path traverses unincorporated rural townships, natural wetlands, some restored prairies, and farmland.

Eastern section of the Great Western Trail at Prince Crossing in West Chicago, at the western terminus.

The newer of the two sections, between Villa Park and West Chicago in DuPage County, is made up of right-of-way that was abandoned piecemeal throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. As the railway was abandoned, the government of DuPage County made upgrades to the path, and between 1990 through 1992, the trail was converted from a rail grade to a bicycle trail. The twelve-mile crushed stone path crosses some farmland and suburban areas. At the east end of the trail is a restored former CGW depot building. The Great Western trail also was extended to make a connection with the Illinois Prairie Path in 1995. In 1998, a new bridge was built over Interstate 355, while the next year, a new bridge was built over the West Branch of the DuPage River.<sup>[1]

AND IN IOWA there is another Great Western Trail built upon the same rail line. For more information go to this website: http://www.inhf.org/iowatrails/gwbr-intro.htm</sup>

DuPage conservation queen excited
for Earth Day events

Santa Claus is to Christmas what Kay McKeen is to DuPage County’s Earth Day. When it comes
to saving the planet, McKeen is our “go-to” person.

McKeen is the director of DuPage’s School and Community Assistance for Recycling and
Composting Education. She helps organize environmental projects and encourages the recycling
of everything, from books to computers. She even melts broken crayons into Super Crayons for
disabled children.

Last week, McKeen was a guest speaker at Roselle’s Green Night. The first-time event included the
display of the village’s 31-miles-per-gallon 2008 Ford Escape hybrid. Inside village hall, 75 residents —
including Mayor Gayle Smolinski — listened to McKeen.  

“It’s the little things that count,” said McKeen. “We can make a difference by turning off lights,
recycling batteries and not using plastic shopping bags.”

She delivered the identical message to three other groups that day. 

McKeen formalized her planet-saving crusade in 1984. That was the year she organized
Wheaton’s first recycling event. The tradition continues.

Last Saturday, April 19, hundreds of DuPage residents drove through a Wheaton parking lot
donating used books, car batteries, computers, bicycles, cell phones, lawn mowers, car keys,
gym shoes, American flags, scrap metal and eyeglasses. The dates of future events appear online
at www.bookrescue.org.

The first drop-off point was for used books. This is McKeen’s signature project. In 1991, she realized
that DuPage schools had a plethora of unused textbooks. She decided to rescue the books through
recycling. Among the next drop-off points was one for used eyeglasses. Members of local Lions
clubs volunteered to accept the spectacles.

This Saturday, April 26, Cywinski will participate in the Annual Earth Day Trail Clean-Up. Working with
McKeen and Friends of the Great Western Trail’s Don Kirchenberg of Glendale Heights, Cywinski and
his fellow Lions will clear debris from their assigned section of the trail.

There is a historic site along the GWT in DuPage County.
The St Stephen's cemetery is on the north side of the GWT
west of Schmale Road or east of Gary Road:
http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/photo_galleries/x597439480/St-Stephen-Cemetery-in-Carol-Stream

After the successful Eagle Scout project the cemetery is being maintained by the Miltom Township Cemetery Authority. Friends of Pioneer Cemeteries is another organization composed of volunteers interested in local history, historical preservation, genealogy. Get more info here: http://triblocal.com/wheaton/2010/09/22/pioneer-spirit-lives-on-with-cemeterys-revival/