American Transmission Co., UW-Stevens Point partner on utility arboriculture education

American Transmission Co. said recently that its vegetation management team and the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point are partnering to provide utility arboriculture education and training to students in the College of Natural Resources.

The partnership began when UWSP forestry professor Les Werner asked ATC to help with incorporating utility arboriculture into the curriculum for Forestry 331 – Landscape Maintenance/Arboriculture, which he teaches to approximately 30 students each fall.

“This is a great opportunity to introduce students to utility vegetation management and expose them to job opportunities in our industry,” Ben Gura, senior vegetation management specialist at ATC, said.

The program began with several two-hour labs and has since expanded into two lectures and two labs. The ATC vegetation management team has developed outlines for field labs and a PowerPoint presentation for a lecture.

The lecture covers general electrical knowledge, why utilities manage vegetation, working around electricity, career opportunities in the field, and vegetation management tools and technology. The field lab sessions cover utility arboriculture as a professional industry, how electricity flows from generation to the consumer, compliance, environmental stewardship and clearing rights, hazard tree identification, and risk management, among other topics.

“We continue to build a great relationship with our UWSP partner, and our team feels this is very meaningful to ATC and the utility vegetation management industry,” Adam Helminiak, vegetation management consultant for ATC, said.