I recently traveled down Turners Falls Road in Montague and was shocked to see hundreds of mature trees have been cut to the ground up and down the 4-mile stretch from Montague center all the way to the public safety station in Turners Falls.

Presumably all this cutting was done to clear vegetation from the zone of the utility lines, but the cutting done in this case was much more extreme than is typically done around utility lines. Trees that were 50 or 100 feet away from the utility lines were cut to the ground, instead of simply trimming branches reaching toward the utility lines.

Many of these trees were 75-150 years old, and have lived successfully for their entire lives in relatively peaceful coexistence with the power lines. I don’t see any reason why all of a sudden they should have been slashed to the ground.

In my effort to figure out who’s idea was it to initiate and approve this excessive cutting, I contacted various town authorities. Town Planner Maureen Pollock was able to get in touch with the Montague tree warden and called me back to explain that he reported that the tree-cutting plan was initiated by Eversource to clear vegetation from the zone of the power lines. He told her except for in front of the cemetery, all the tree cutting was on private property and landowners signed off on the extensive tree removal.

Overall, I find it hard to believe that the town of Montague has no jurisdiction over any of the many other trees that were cut. If they truly don’t, then something should be changed so that in the future they do have a say in how roadside vegetation is maintained. If private landowners who abut this road were indeed informed of this cutting plan and agreed to it, then those individuals should be ashamed. If they were not properly informed, then Eversource should be held liable.

I also checked with David Detmold, who is the chair of the Montague Tree Advisory Committee. He says the committee was not informed by Eversource about this cutting plan in advance, and thus had no say or input in how this happened. I was informed that the Tree Advisory Committee is doing what it can to plant 600 trees along Montague streets under the terms of a five-year U.S. Forestry grant. But during the same time frame, the utility company cuts down 6,000 more.

The massacre that happened along Turners Falls Road should not have been allowed to happen, and every effort should be taken to make sure that utility companies use a more judicious approach to protecting utility lines elsewhere in Montague and in Massachusetts in general.

Ryan Voiland lives in Montague.

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