Arborists have always been a component of a utility’s operations team, but, historically, vegetation management was only a small part of the big picture, and secondary to the core business of electricity distribution. Often, arborists were not included in early-stage planning of electrical projects; in fact, they frequently functioned without planning and strategy interaction with other departments. An example of this independent vegetation management structure was evident in how maintenance pruning was coordinated and scheduled by many utility system arborists at the time. It was common to see maintenance pruning organized by vegetation management areas or trim zones, taking into account municipalities and geographic areas for scheduled pruning, which made the process and implementation of pruning easier for workers and the public. Trim zones, however, did not encompass the electrical circuit layout, how power flows, and the number of customers served. After collaborating with engineering and electrical operations, system arborists consider these factors critical today, explaining why the evolution from trim zones to circuit pruning has become more prominent over the years.
