Fredericksburg, Va. – For the 19^th straight year, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) received the Tree Line USA designation from The Arbor Day Foundation. This designation recognizes utilities that demonstrate best practices in protecting and enhancing forestry.

Each year, REC’s vegetation management team targets tree-related outages, using some of the industry’s newest technological advances. While ensuring that member-owners have reliable electric service, REC’s crews use specialized equipment to work safely and to protect the health of the trees they trim.

“REC works year-round to ensure our certified arborists and forester do their jobs with an eye toward sustainability,” said Cindy Musick, Director of Vegetation Management. “Respecting the environment is key to everything we do.”

This year, REC took part in a variety of Arbor Day celebrations, including tree plantings at Hoover Ridge Park, Madison Garden Club and Waverly Yowell Elementary.

For those interested in reading about REC’s vegetation management practices, they can do so at REC’s website: myrec.coop/vegetation-management.

REC provides electric service to over 170,000 connections in parts of 22 Virginia counties. With its general office in Fredericksburg, Va., the Cooperative operates and maintains more than 17,000 miles of power lines through its service area, which ranges from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the tidal waters of the Chesapeake Bay. For more information about REC, please visit www.myrec.coop. Follow REC on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.