ABSTRACT 7th International Symposium on Environmental Concerns in Rights-of-Way Management
TITLE:	Systematic Method for Forest Vegetation Management in the Rights-of-Way (ROW)
AUTHOR(S):	J. Arévalo-Camacho - jarevalo@ree.es Red Eléctrica de España, S.A., Environment Department Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain J. Roig-Solés - jroig@ree.es Red Eléctrica de España, S.A., Environment Department, Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain Leticia Gonzáles Cantalapiedra Red Eléctrica de España, S.A., Environment Department Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain Carlos Morla Juaristi Polytechnic University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria Madrid, Spain Fernando Gómez Manzaneque Polytechnic University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria Madrid, Spain Elena Bermejo Bermejo Red Eléctrica de España, S.A., Environment Department Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain David Galicia Herbada Red Eléctrica de España, S.A., Environment Department Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain Felipe Martínez García Red Eléctrica de España, S.A., Environment Department Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain
The problems met in Spain when herbicides are used for management of the rights-of-way (ROW) for power transmission lines and the extensive current legislation that protects both vegetation and habitats, have made it necessary to search for and develop environmental-friendly methods to carry out the systematic removal of vegetation incompatible with the power line operation. To that end RED ELÉCTRICA has engaged a research project to draw up a manual that specifies the type of management applicable in each situation based on the existing type of vegetation. Due to the phytoclimatic variety in Spain it is impossible to define a sole procedure applicable to all the lines of the transmission grid. A systematic research plan has been carried out in ten stretches of different power transmission lines located throughout the country, requiring surveys of some 140 km of rights-of-way to identify the best-suited species for each type of forest or formation and find a customized method based on selective removal of species and proliferation of most suitable ones in order to preserve vegetation cover, to lower impacts, to increase time intervals between maintenance operations and to reduce costs of long-term management while keeping the existing safety ratios. Keywords: Vegetation, forest management, rights-of-way (ROW), power lines Ref#: 2-10