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Right-of-Way Self-Maintenance Information FBEMC has been successfully treating our power line rights-of-way with herbicides for several years. This program has significantly reduced the amount of woody vegetation and turned these corridors into grassland filled with flowers, grasses, and other low growing herbaceous plants, providing a safer, easier to navigate pathway to our power lines. This in turn allows for faster service restoration times in the event of an outage. Some of our members have chosen to maintain their land under our power lines to avoid herbicide treatment. Some have turned this area into grazing land for their animals, others have turned the area into a hayfield or even a garden, while some simply mow it each year. Regardless of how it is maintained, FBEMC is only targeting the vegetation that will eventually grow into the power lines (trees or vines) or vegetation that will impede our ability to access our facilities (bushes, briers, laurel and rhododendron). It is important to remember that bushes and briers like blueberries or raspberries will be treated if they are not cared for and maintained. Clearing all the growth around each bush and trellising the briers will clearly identify they are being maintained and should not be treated unless there is no alternate path to our power line. If a member chooses to mow the right-of-way, it should be done at least once each year during the dormant season and no later than May 31st so it is clear to our crews that the area is being actively maintained. It is necessary to mow and clear the entire right-of-way. Any area that is skipped is subject to herbicide treatment. The entire right-of-way should be cut to a height of 4 inches unless it is being used to raise crops. Please keep in mind we do NOT spray grasses or other low growing flowers and herbaceous plants. We only target the vegetation that is going to be a problem for our crews and our lines. If you choose to maintain your own right-of-way you can, at your option, call your district office and add your property to our owner-maintained list. This list does not guarantee that your right-of-way would not be sprayed but simply identifies the areas that are supposed to be maintained by the owners. Moving forward we are now encouraging participants who have already signed up with their district office to use our Self-Maintained website to log in and register their property each year for the upcoming spray season. Registering each year ensures FBEMC that you wish to remain an active participant and that you are indeed maintaining your right-of-way properly. To allow us enough time to go through our records and prepare for each upcoming spray season, we encourage participants to clear the right-of-way and check in each year before May 1st. Please note that just simply registering each year does not guarantee you won't be sprayed. You still must maintain the right-of-way to our standards to avoid being sprayed. There are no contracts or other documents to sign in order to self-maintain your property. Please keep in mind that working around aerial power lines is inherently dangerous and should only be done by qualified personnel. Energized power lines can cause serious injury or be fatal if contacted. Below are some great examples of actual members who have elected to maintain their right-of way corridor: 
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