B.C. residents frustrated by FortisBC's 'devastating' tree trims

Residents in Keremeos, B.C., are up in arms after trees around the Southern Interior community have had their branches trimmed.

Dozens of trees near power lines have had their branches trimmed by a contractor for FortisBC, which provides natural gas and electric services in the area.

Residents of the village, located around 80 kilometres south of Kelowna, took to social media over the past few days to share photos and voice their frustration. 

One member of a local Facebook group called it "Keremeos chainsaw massacre 2024" — a description that Chris Mathieson used while speaking with CBC's Radio West.  

"Many of the trees in the community literally are half gone," said Mathieson, who operates the Grist Mill and Gardens, a provincial heritage site.

"It's a massacre. There's no other way to describe it."

He said Friday that his site has a number of "truly historic" trees standing near power lines, so he's looking to open a line of communication with FortisBC to prevent them from facing the same fate. He added that residents received no communication from the natural gas utility ahead of time. 

"We care about our community," Mathieson said. "We care about how our community looks, and this work is just devastating."

Gary Toft, FortisBC's senior adviser for corporate communications, told CBC News that the work is meant to keep the community safe as trees too close to power lines can pose a fire risk and lead to outages. 

"Safety is a top priority for FortisBC," he said. 

The tree-trimming work in Keremeos is ongoing with no specific date for completion, according to Toft. 

He added that FortisBC engages with communities when trees need to be removed, but less often for tree trimming because of how commonplace it is. He said the utility has up to 15 tree-trimming crews working in 10 different communities at any given time. 

Mathieson said he and other residents understand the need to protect infrastructure like power lines. But he worries that pruning trees to such a degree could lead to "a lot of bushy growth" and cause more problems in the future. 

Certified arborist John Martyn, however, assures that utility tree trimming impacts only the tree's appearance, not its health.

"It's hard to kill a tree by pruning, it's really difficult," he told CBC News. 

But the Abbotsford-based arborist said trimmers should be careful to not change a tree's natural form. 

"Take out the dead, dying and defective branches, you take the junk out of the tree...but try to keep that form," he added.

Keremeos Mayor Jason Wiebe declined a request for an interview from CBC News, but said the village will have a comment on Monday.