Storm recovery turns to trees
BY P.J. LASSEK World Staff Writer
Thursday, January 31, 2008
12/07/12 at 1:17 PM
The goal is to
reforest the city by
planting 20,000
saplings by 2010.
Mayor Kathy Taylor kicked
off the third phase of the city’s
ice storm recovery by planting
a native whitebud tree
Wednesday in Owen Park, the
oldest public park in Tulsa.
“We have been known as
the Tree City and we must
continue that important Tulsa
heritage,” Taylor said during a
news conference at the park,
just northwest of the Inner
Dispersal Loop.
The goal is to plant 20,000
trees by 2010 on public and
private land with the aid of Up
With Trees, the city’s Tree Advisory
Committee and private
funding.
The December ice storm
was the most significant natural
disaster the city has ever
experienced, Taylor said.
It knocked out power to
more than 250,000 customers
in the metropolitan area and
killed or damaged nearly
20,000 trees.
Taylor said her recovery
plan has three phases: first, restoring
electricity; second, removing
storm debris, and,
third, regreening the city. The
first has been completed and
the second is well under way.
Phase three, named “Re-
Green Tulsa 20,000 by 2010,”
is adapted from programs in
Atlanta, Austin, Texas, and Indianapolis.
“Thanks to the generosity of
Tulsans, many of whom supported
beautification and development
of our river, we
have raised a $1.5 million challenge
grant to apply to this
program,” Taylor said.
Although Taylor would not
name the donors behind the
challenge grant, she did say
that American Electric Power-
Public Service Company
of Oklahoma agreed to donate
$150,000.
The city will need $4 million
in private funding over
the next three years, she
said. The effort will cost
about $300 per tree.
“Every Tulsan can help us
reach our goal,” Taylor said.
“If you plant a tree, you may
register it with the Mayor’s
Office, and we will provide
you a certificate honoring
the occasion and naming you
an official ReGreen Tulsa
20,000 by 2010 partner.”
City Councilor Cason Carter,
the chairman of the Tree
Advisory Committee, said it
had already done much of
the work that went into the
plan, such as identifying
trees that are the most likely
to survive such a storm, not
cause issues with power
lines and help the environment.
Anna America, the executive
director of Up With
Trees, said that in order to
visibly affect the city’s urban
canopy, trees must also be
planted on private land.
helped remind us how much
we cherish our trees in Tulsa,
it also highlighted the importance
of planting the right
tree in the right place in the
right way,” she said.
The mayor said the regreening
effort includes a
“NeighborWoods” program,
which will provide education
and trees for areas hit hard
by the storm that have limited
resources to replant trees.
America said the first
planting will take place Feb.
23 in the Owen Park neighborhood.
Volunteers from
the University of Tulsa and
members of the Owen Park
Neighborhood Association
will plant several dozen
trees.
Up With Trees and the
Mayor’s Office also will join
other tree education groups
to conduct free tree fairs and
educational seminars across
the city this spring and
throughout the year.
Taylor said the regreening
effort “is not just about distributing
and planting trees,
it’s about making a commitment
toward community and
Tulsa’s future.”
To volunteer in the program,
go online to www.tuls aworld.
com/regreentulsa or call
Up With Trees at 610-8733.
P.J. Lassek 581-8382
pj.lassek@tulsaworld.com
Debris collection continues
Storm Reconstruction
Services increased on
Tuesday the amount of
storm debris it has collected
in the city to 1.22 million cubic
yards, bringing the total
cost so far to $4.6 million.
Officials estimate that a
total of 3 million cubic yards
of debris will be picked up in
the city.
Residents who want to
dispose of tree debris can
still take it to the city’s greenwaste
site at 10401 E. 56th
St. North between 8 a.m.
and 4 p.m. Proof of residency
is required to dump for
free.
Wood chips and firewood
also are available at that site
for residents and nonresidents.
The public may not bring
debris to the three sites being
used by the debris hauling
contractor: Johnson
Park, at 61st Street and Riverside
Drive; East Latimer
Street and North 89th East
Avenue; and Mohawk Park.
Those sites are being
monitored by the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency for reimbursement
purposes.
The wood chips will be
used to make topsoil for land
reclamation. The city chose
that disposal method because
it contributes to sustainability
of the environment,
rather than burning,
which creates hazards.
The now-closed trash-to-energy
plant cannot be used
to burn the debris because it
is unable to handle the high
temperatures created by the
burning debris.
