January 17, 2023

David Stewart, an ACRT lead forestry specialist, recently received a G.E.M. Award for his “significant performance in leadership.” He was nominated by ACRT Assistant Operations Manager Josh Justice. He shared the following about Stewart’s actions.

On July 11, 2022, David Stewart identified a pine leaning toward one of [our customer’s] 230 kV. circuits. He determined the tree was uprooting, took pictures, and quickly communicated the situation to the customer’s leadership without delay, expressing how critical it was to get the tree removed asap. His efforts facilitated the removal of the tree within hours, quickly eliminating the threat. The pine tree was over 100 feet tall, had the potential to overstrike the conductors by 22 feet, and could have potentially caused a sustained outage.

A manager from [our customer] also shared his thoughts about Stewart.

When I think about Dave, I think about attitude and flexibility. Dave has always been willing to support anywhere in [our large] footprint. I do believe every crew Dave has spent time with has told me, “That man knows his trees.” He is excellent at identifying species which surprised me, as he is not from the area. He has hiked in some of our most treacherous line areas performing planning, coaching, and crew observations. He has also been challenged with full ownership of crews and leadership in helicopter tree maintenance procedures. This job also requires great people and organizational skills. I appreciate what he brings to the table, and it is a joy watching him grow with new challenges. Glad to have him as a teammate.