Just a few years ago, after Hurricane Ike, we were concerned about disposing of trees destroyed in the storm and replanting new ones. But today we are facing a new crisis with trees dying or damaged by the ongoing drought. And with Trees for Houston now estimating 66-million trees in a casualty status, if a new storm came through our area, the rain we would get might do little for these trees that are more likely to fall over in the high winds.
Wednesday, City Council approved a Park Department request for an additional $4.5 million to deal with the issue. Early reports about this proposal put the situation in stark terms.
The drought’s length and intensity have become so acute the city has to throw unbudgeted money at it. City Council on Wednesday [now approved] a request by the Parks and Recreation Department for $4.5 million to remove 15,000 dead trees from city parks and esplanades, an amount nearly 13 times what the city spends dragging away dead trees in an average year.
That’s more money than the city will spend buying police cars this year, more than it will spend buying fire trucks and other department vehicles. Or enough to bring about 80 laid-off librarians, parks employees and other city workers back on the payroll.
Source: Houston Chronicle
The drought has similarly impacted county, state and nonprofit directed lands.
The Houston Arboretum & Nature Center has lost about a fourth of its trees in the drought so far, said executive director Debbie Markey. The staff is marking with an X the trees that need to be removed. If the Texas Forest Service’s forecast of one to three more years of drought holds true, the casualty count could climb much higher.
“It will be a different landscape. It’s hard to swallow. The arboretum will have more cleared areas for meadows,” Markey said.
Source: Houston Chronicle
The importance of a tree canopy can not be overstated. In addition to their contribution to park and recreation space, they play an essential role in keeping cities like Houston cooler and undercutting the problem of heat-island effects that is common in many large cities. But at a time when the state climatologist is also indicating we might be in the midst of a longer term drought, prospects for seeing a natural turn-around to this problem may not come anytime soon.