By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

“WHICH came first? The power line or the tree? If we knew the tree was there first, why did we put the power line there? If the power line was there first, why did we put the tree there?”
These are among the questions that 15 participants will address in the tree care workshop that will start today on Guam.
According to the Marianas Resource Conservation and Development Council, speakers and participants from the CNMI Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. and the CNMI Department of Public Works will talk about tree care, the right trees to be planted in the right places, the proper installation of infrastructure, particularly power lines, and the management of trees, including trimming.
Council president Roland Quitugua said in an interview yesterday that the workshop will discuss the balance among structure, health and aesthetics.
“There are man’s needs, and there are the tree’s needs, and tree specialists have come to find a common ground between the two,” he said.
Ken Kramer, also of the council, said that since trees and infrastructure can’t co-exist, it takes planning, programming, and a lot of work to manage them.
Kramer said any plant out of place is considered a weed.
If it’s growing under power lines “it’s kind of a weed,” he added.,
“We want to put the plant in the right place so it can flourish and grow,” he said, adding that “if you employ the wrong practices, you actually increase the damage after a typhoon.”
Proper trimming, he added, may reduce the damage to infrastructure and recovery costs.
According to Kramer, trees can be can be trimmed to maintain their strength and aesthetic appeal.
Quitugua said his recommendation is that flame trees — symbols of Saipan — do not belong under power lines.
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. has to trim flame trees near power lines especially during typhoons.
“Now find out what the reason is for those things happening,” Quitugua said. “This is what the policy is and this is where enforcement comes in. We need someone who can oversee and develop a program related to this issue.”
He added, “I see beautiful trees in areas that are not touched. But in areas where they are managed and someone is taking care of them they are defective and are falling down.”
Quitugua said those who look after trees should “understand what the plant needs and wants. And only then can we manage these trees, taking into consideration our own development needs.”