Up until 1993, Dixie Electric Membership Cooperative's (DEMCO) right-of-way (R/W) program was on an eight- to nine-year cycle of distribution trimming and did not include a spray program. Budget restraints and the management practices in place at the time caused varied results. Motivated to improve safety and reliability for its customers, DEMCO developed a 10-year management plan adopting a two-year spray program and a five-year trimming cycle. Due in part to the marshy, swampy environment and the relatively overgrown condition of the R/Ws, DEMCO adopted an aggressive three-pronged approach that included mechanical trimming, herbicides and R/W reclamation. Where feasible, repetitive trimming in R/Ws evolved to tree removal. In transmission R/Ws, DEMCO moved from performing limited side trimming to reclaiming the entire width of the R/W.
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