CEATI's 2019 Vegetation Management Conference, featuring presentations from utilities and industry experts, will be Dec. 3-4 in San Antonio, Texas.
This conference will expand on three primary focus areas: program management, technology and environmental issues. Presentations in the program management sessions will demonstrate the importance of effective communication with stakeholders for the implementation and acceptance of vegetation management plans as well as aligning corporate goals with long-term objectives in safety, reliability and reduced costs. These strategic goals extend to selecting and retaining skilled workers in addition to ensuring contractor suitability to achieve customer satisfaction.
In support of strategic goals, attendees will gain insight on current technologies for data gathering, strategies for leveraging data and methods for transferring data between owners and third parties for work management. Some of the many topics that will be covered are successful inventory collection programs, computer models for growth, prescription and management optimization as well as paperless workflows.
A third focus of this conference is environmental issues. Climate change is forcing utilities to prepare for extreme weather fluctuations and its impact on forest health. As a result, this session will support utilities to better understand how to develop or depend on weather prediction systems and experts to assist in storm-related damage predictions, put restoration plans in place and depict the regulatory role in program adaptation.
Another pillar within this session is herbicide use, which ties into aspects covered throughout the conference by demonstrating new technologies and techniques for herbicide application, methods for predicting growth cycles and environmental stewardship.
Themes:
1. Program Management – Strategic vs Operational Planning
2. Program Management – Contractor Procurement Strategies
3. Technology – Data Collection and Prioritization
4. Technology – Mobile Data Use / Paperless Programs
5. Environmental Issues – Adaptation Strategies / Risk Mitigation
6. Environmental Issues – Effective Herbicide Use
To see the full agenda, click here. You can also register for the conference by visiting the Web site.