Anyone driving around the city of Bowling Green lately surely has noticed how many trees in neighborhoods have been, well, subjected to what some may consider excessive trimming.

It’s part of an annual task that Bowling Green Municipal Utilities performs to ensure that branches from trees aren’t hanging on or near power lines.

We understand that BGMU must do this to prevent power outages during storms, but some of the trimming seems a bit much in some cases, leaving some residents upset.

BGMU does have the right to cut down or clear away any obstructions within, or even beside, an easement – if it’s the utility’s opinion that they &#8220may be a hazard.”

In residential areas, those easements usually extend 10 feet on either side of the power line.

A lot of complaints from citizens in the area is that when the trees are trimmed they are left looking like a war zone ripped through their yard and aren’t pruned to their original shape.

BGMU states that they don’t do that is because the National Arbor Day Foundation doesn’t follow that practice. According to the NADF, it damages your trees more than it helps.

Overall, we believe that BGMU is simply looking out for the welfare of those in the city by cutting the branches back.

Miles McDaniel, BGMU’s manager of business development and marketing, said since the company started an &#8220aggressive” tree trimming policy in 2004, it has seen a drastic drop in service interruptions.

They are also offering a voucher program that people affected by the trimming can use toward the purchase of utility friendly trees.

We believe this offers landowners some compensation for having their favorite shade tree trimmed, and we believe this is a positive thing. At the same time, we hope BGMU will ensure that those contracted to do the work trim no more than is necessary. This is not unreasonable for a city that employs a city arborist and is proud of its designation as Tree City USA.