Hello Tree Lovers!

It's important to contact your Sangre De Christo Electric Association Board Member and let them know that you are concerned about how they are handling the tree cutting issue before we unnecessarily lose 1,000s of trees in our community. 

Publicly, SDCEA says they will talk with homeowners and maybe - perhaps not cut down trees if homeowners don't want them to. HOWEVER this is not what is happening. They are still moving forward with tree clear cutting in Buena Vista and throughout the county.

We are getting reports from distraught homeowners on the verge of losing trees that are NOT HAZARDOUS and DO NOT POSE A THREAT TO POWER LINES!

We also have a report that this issue was not even discussed at this month's Board Meeting. This has fallen off their radar and we need to put it back on!

SDCEA is using outdated thinking with their idea that ALL trees need to be cut down for fire safety and deliverability. It's simply not true and utilities across the country are abandoning tree clear cutting in favor of more modern safety approaches to both fire safety and electricity deliverability. 

We have no problem with SDCEA cutting trees that are hazardous to lines but they are absolutely NOT planning to do any sort of hazard analysis in order to make a more thoughtful assessment before enacting their destructive plan. 

Contact your board member before thousands and thousands of tree sin Buena Vista and across the country are destroyed forever. 

• Blake Bennetts – Secretary, Town of Buena Vista representative, bennetts@myelectric.coop
• Sandra Attebery – Chair, Custer County representative, attebery@myelectric.coop
• Charles A. Abel II – Vice Chair, Rural Chaffee/Lake County representative, abel@myelectric.coop
• Mark Boyle – Director, Rural Lake/Chaffee County representative, boyle@myelectric.coop
• Jeff Fiedler – Treasurer, At Large representative, fiedler@myelectric.coop
• Nick Hellbusch – Director, Fremont County representative, hellbusch@myelectric.coop

Please forward this far and wide to other members of our community!

With love,

BV Tree Coalition

PS. Don't forget to VOTE for the new SDCEA Board Members! Sandy Long is the only candidate that has reached out to us. Sandy has shown deep concern for this issue and a desire to work with us for a better, more thoughtful, more modern SDCEA Board of Directors. She is interested in reducing rates and saving trees. Sandy Long's perspective seems to be most in line with ours. 

VOTE HERE: You can access your ballot online by logging into your SDCEA account at https://www.myelectric.coop/