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City Commission Votes To Cut 721 Trees

An aerial photo of undeveloped land is overlaid with blue and red lines showing where the power lines would be placed
Courtesy photo
/
Consumers Energy

More than 700 trees will be cut down to take way for new power lines in Kalamazoo.
 
City commissioners approved the plan Monday. Consumers Energy asked for the easement to run power lines near the Kalamazoo River for a $600 million expansion of Graphic Packaging. But a resident who's suing the company says the decision is a mistake. Brandi Crawford-Johnson says the paper company may be responsible for her health problems.

 
"One mature tree provides oxygen for four people and trees help protect the health and climate of city residents. Taking away those trees near a neighborhood that has an asthma hospitalization rate five times higher than anywhere in the region is cruel."

 
But Graphic Packaging says the project will create jobs and expand the city's tax base. The new lines will also feed power to the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

 
Consumers Energy says it gives saplings to local schools, and will contribute 2,500 trees for planting at the Fulton State Game Area as part of its clean energy plan.

Original story:

Kalamazoo City Commissioners are expected to vote tonight on an easement proposal from Consumers Energy. If granted, the utility would have the city’s permission to cut down hundreds of trees near the Kalamazoo River as it runs new power lines to Graphic Packaging International.

The paper company is in the midst of a major expansion of its plant. Consumers says the new lines are necessary to meet GPI’s electrical needs.

A wide view of the Kalamazoo River. The water is in the middle. There are trees on both banks and they cast a shadow on the water. The sky is overcast with power lines crossing over the water.
Credit Sehvilla Mann / WMUK
/
WMUK
The Kalamazoo River in September, looking south from East Mosel Avenue. Consumers Energy wants to run two new power lines across the water from its substation on the east side of Riverview Drive. One would cross the water near the tower on the left. The other would cross the river further south. The utility is asking to cut down about 700 trees on the west side of the river, to make way for the lines.

Kalamazoo’s Tree Committee approved the removalin September, but a majority of members expressed misgivings. They agreed the utility’s planned compensation for the trees – about $12 apiece – did not reflect the woods' true environmental and aesthetic value. That payment is strictly for the lumber, which Consumers said would fetch little on the market.

The head of the Tree Committee, Anthony Ladd, suggested the city revise its tree-removal policy to consider more than the price of the wood in setting compensation rates.

“We owe it to the city and everyone around us to figure that out shortly,” he said.

Sehvilla Mann joined WMUK’s news team in 2014 as a reporter on the local government and education beats. She covered those topics and more in eight years of reporting for the Station, before becoming news director in 2022.
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