No; not that kind of poll!

In our neighborhood in Hyattsville, they’re replacing all the wooden telephone or power poles. I say, “they,” because since contractors are doing the work, I can’t tell who “they” are! But they’re doing a fine job. There are hundreds of these poles going up right next to the old ones. The new poles are a tad bigger in diameter than the old ones. Once the new ones are in place, they transfer the wiring structure to the new poles and chop down the old ones. After they’re done, you can hardly tell there was an old pole there at all. Whoever “they” are, they’re certainly efficient.

I can’t imagine what this must cost. Crews with big trucks are all over the place doing this work.

What I’d like to know, and I’m hoping one of my readers can answer this, is: What the heck kind of tree are these poles made from? The poles are uniformly straight and, I guess, about 25-30 feet high Probably five or six feet more are stuck in the ground. So we’re talking a fairly substantial tree to begin with. I don’t know of any tree that grows that straight except maybe a pine tree.

Anyone know the answer?