Trees Down on Conservation Easement

Downed Trees: Contractor Cuts Into Protected Woods

BY TOM EMBREY: STAFF WRITER

Some West End residents are concerned over damage inflicted by a utility company contractor to ecologically sensitive areas.
Landowners said contractors from Progress Energy carelessly and needlessly cut down trees and destroyed preserved wetlands and other sensitive areas when crews were surveying portions of their property for a proposed power line route.

"There were a lot of trees unnecessarily cut during this surveying," property owner Mike Wilson said. Wilson and Jesse Wimberley are the principal owners of the land.

Mike Hughes, a spokesperson for Progress Energy in Raleigh, acknowledged the situation and admitted the error.

"It appears that our contractor left significantly more damage than normal and significantly more damage than expected," Hughes said.

Hughes said the contractors were conducting a centerline survey, and it is common to clear trees on property to do such a survey. He said that cutting trees is kept to a minimum necessary to complete the survey.

In this case, a wetlands area on Wimberley's property was damaged when heavy equipment operators got stuck there.

"This is one of the most unique ecosystems in the United States," Wimberley said.

Wilson and Wimberley alleged that Progress Energy did not perform any type of environmental study of the land prior to starting work.

Hughes said Progress Energy has apologized for the error and is working with the property owners and other state and federal agencies to mitigate the situation.

"We want to make sure it is resolved in the best way possible," Hughes said.

The work was being done as part of Progress Energy's attempt to plan a 34-mile route for a new high-transmission line from Rockingham to West End. Construction on the line is slated to begin in 2009, with completion set for 2011.

Wimberley said he uses his land as an agritourism site. He conducts tours of the land and is active in trying to preserve its intricate and diverse ecosystem that is unique to the Sandhills.

Wimberley and Wilson are actively trying to bring back the red-cockaded woodpecker to western Moore County. They say the property is a prime site for the nesting and foraging of the species.

Wimberley, Wilson and other property owners said they were not told that their property was along Progress Energy's chosen route. They said they were notified that part of their land was being considered and that workers would be meeting with them to survey possible sites. They were not told that the land was slated for immediate destruction.

Wilson and Wimberley said they found out about the survey work from a neighbor, Johnny Pigg.

"My son told me at 10:30 at night when I got home from work one day," Pigg said, "He said, 'Somebody was in here cutting trees on our land. I could see the trees falling from the house,'" Pigg said.

Pigg said he investigated his son's claims and discovered heavy equipment he described as a skid loader with a grinder. After finding the equipment, he notified Wimberley.

Downed trees and tracks left by the heavy equipment are visible on the property.

Hughes said the situation arose because of a "communication breakdown."

Wimberley accused Progress Energy and its contractors and subcontractors of lying to him.

"Why I find this so egregious is that I had taken steps to contact Progress Energy and say, don't you bring equipment out here. This is a protected area." Wimberley said. "I put a conservation easement on this land to protect it from this very activity."