If one sturdy impression has sprouted concerning utility companies and their tree-trimming activities, it’s that they’re either terribly indifferent or plain arrogant when it comes to the justifiable worries of homeowners fiercely protective of trees on their land.

The impression is unfortunate. Those of us who complain are likely the first to blow a gasket when a power outage strikes our neighborhood, caused by rain-weighted tree limbs or wind-tossed branches falling atop power lines.

Considering battles already waged over reckless tree-trimming operations to protect power lines in parts of North Waco and West Waco a few years ago, we can imagine how fearful folks in nearby Woodway are about Oncor Electric Delivery. In plans for a bigger transmission line in the area, Oncor is reportedly talking about felling some trees standing amid 153 homes in the easement.

As longtime Trib staff writer Cindy V. Culp wrote in Wednesday’s edition and today’s, homeowners are plenty riled. They’re folks like June Gilbreath, trying to grapple with the idea of her mature white oaks being leveled. What little that Oncar officials have allowed out is troubling enough, including reports that all trees in Woodway within 35 feet of either side of the transmission line must perish.

No wonder Woodway citizens are gathering at 7 tonight to discuss options, including legal action. If Oncor officials have any sense of community good will, they’ll be there.

In an age when property rights are a huge issue in Texas, we wonder about the wisdom of Oncor management in keeping the homeowners in the dark and refusing to seek meaningful solutions for neighborhoods where trees have grown tall and strong.

More than in lush areas of East Texas, homeowners in much of Central Texas cherish their trees because they’re not as populous. Besides the aesthetic merit they offer, trees add hard value to both land and neighborhoods. Some of us, too, see ourselves as the stewards of these great trees, which likely will outlive us, only to benefit yet another generation.

Woodway residents love their trees. We remember the long faces and broken hearts after a tornado raged through that area one spring night in 2006, uprooting and toppling hundreds of majestic live and red oaks. What harm, we ask, is there in Oncor’s contracting seasoned and thoughtful local arborists and enlisting Texas Forest Service specialists to seek out viable solutions rather than further sullying business-community relations?

We know that some trees may have to fall. That’s progress. But if Oncor continues to cavalierly ignore customers’ vital property interests and rights, they may well find themselves up a tree legally.