Waterbirds and Transmission Lines - Cosumnes River Preserve

Saturdays Habitat Restoration Team’s workday had Alex Cabrera’s fingerprints all over it. With the mantra “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” embedded in Alex’s character and TNC’s soul, HRT straightened eight windblown Cottonwoods along the edge of one of our large ponds. This was not an issue of esthetics but a real big safety concern. Not for the safety of the humans that frequent The Cosumnes River Preserve but for the large migrating waterfoul that come to our ponds for food and shelter. The Sandhill Cranes that roost in our ponds, far too often collide with the powerlines that traverse The Preserve. TNC has petitioned the power company that owns the transmission lines to “underground” them or reroute them but they have respectfully declined. Alex has embarked on a course to plant the tall Cottonwoods that are native to our area, along the edges of the ponds that the cranes use. The theory is that the cranes would then have to fly over the trees, which would be tall and readily visible, to reach the ponds and would then clear the power lines by default.

Alex had us pound salvaged T-posts at an angle, into the ground and use salvaged degraded extension cords to straighten and secure the far leaning Cottonwoods. What would have costs a minimum of $7 per tree cost us nothing. We didn’t have to go to town and buy these supplies and we didn’t have to retire the salvaged materials to a landfill. Way to go Boss.

T-posts at Lows are $3.62 each