Green Team - Parkway Partners Meeting Report
On Tuesday I attended a Parkway Partners information sharing session along with Gordon, Karen and Janel meeting at the Parkway Partners headquarters at 1137 Barronne St.
Parkway Partners is a nonprofit organization that endeavors to improve the quality of life in New Orleans by working to maintain and beatify the city’s green spaces and “urban forests.” For more information about Parkway Partners, click the following link:
Parkway Partners web site
Parkway Partners is enlisting neighborhood representatives to bring neighborhood issues to their attention and I have volunteered to represent our community association. I will be our neighborhood’s point-man for working through you all and Parkway Partners to help rehabilitate our trees and greenery. Please feel free to contact me at kageking@aol.com with any issues that you would like to raise to Parkway Partners.
My main concern going into this meeting was dealing with all the dead magnolias that resulted from the flooding of our neighborhood. Not only are these trees 1) an eyesore, but they are also 2) providing habitat for termites, and 3) because they are dead and brittle these trees have the potential to cause great damage in high winds. Unfortunately, Parkway Partners offers no silver bullet for this problem.
Here is what I learned from the meeting:
- Parkway Partners through its ‘Releaf New Orleans” campaign is working with city architects and planners, and with funding from government grants and charities to replace New Orleans’ tree canopy that was devastated by Katrina. They act as a liaison between the city planners, various charity and grant organizations, and neighborhoods.
Parkway Partners can sometimes line up funding to purchase new trees. In other cases, neighborhoods may need to purchase their own trees at a Parkway Partners negotiated wholesale price. In most cases, Parkway Partners prefers planting to be done by neighborhood citizens because these citizens will be more likely to care for trees that they have planted.
- Because Parkway Partners is supported by grants and charitable donations, and they have a limited staff, they can only undertake a few projects at a time. Their main focus currently is to beatify the major New Orleans corridors: these include Elysian Fields, St Claude, Claiborne and Broad Streets.
To engage Parkway Partners to help our neighborhood is going to take organization and persistence. But we are up to the task! In fact, when I talked to Jean at Parkway Partners this afternoon, she was already looking into the green plan for Earheart - thanks to Janel’s persistence in yesterday’s meeting.
- Parkway Partners doesn’t normally help with the removal of dead trees. They are dependant on FEMA or the city to remove trees before replanting.
- Apparently, there is a debate ongoing about whether or not FEMA is responsible for removing dead trees. FEMA’s current contention is that they are only responsible for removing those trees that are an “immediate threat” to neighborhoods (trees that could fall into a house or roadway.) The city is negotiating with FEMA to include other dead trees in their scope. When I talked to Jean of Parkway Partners today, she said that this negotiation seems to be going well.
Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait and see if FEMA takes responsibility for removing our dead trees.
ACTION PLAN: What we can do:
Get organized. We need to work together to understand the extent of our dead tree problem and create a report that can be provided to Parkway Partners and other helpful organizations so that we can make a strong case for our neighborhood and we will be taken seriously.
- Step 1: We need to survey the dead trees in our neighborhoods. We need to record the location of every dead tree in our neighborhood.
- Step 2: We need to work with GIS (Geographic Information Systems) software to create a computerized map of the dead trees in our neighborhood. I will be working with a GIS expert on this.
- Step 3: Once we have a good survey of our dead trees and a GIS model of the locations of each tree, we need to present this information to Parkway Partners. They can help us find funding and plan the replacement of these trees. At the same time we should send this report to other arborist or environmental organizations who could help us out.
VOLUNTEERS?
I need volunteers to record the location of dead trees in our neighborhood. Please email me at kageking@aol.com if you can help. Also, if anyone has any experience with putting together grant requests or GIS maps, we could use your help too!
July 19th, 2006 at 9:25 pm
Nice job, Kage. Thanks for stepping up and taking this one!
I do a lot of work with Southern University in Baton Rouge and have befreiended the Vice Chancellor of the Ag Center there. They have an Urban Forestry program (one of the few in the nation) and are very concerned about tree loss in New Orleans. Perhaps we could involve the University in our neighborhood and provide them a “research laboratory” and gain the benefit of their help as well.
Just some thoughts.
July 19th, 2006 at 10:24 pm
Thanks Kage Great info
July 20th, 2006 at 2:55 am
FWIW, Seymour D Fair, Schroeder, and that Ashley Morris guy are all GIS types. From your description, Schroeder seems like the man.
July 20th, 2006 at 9:43 am
Kage,
Thanks for the synopsis. I’ll be happy to help scout the neighborhood for trees that need to be cut down. I know that my across the street neighbors had a tree in front of their house removed (by FEMA) and they even ground down the stump. They are the Smiths, and live in the yellow house across from mine. I will get you the street number. Anyway, they may be of some help in letting you know how they got Fema to do it. I had two magnolias taken down in front of my house, but paid someone to do it, and replaced the trees myself. Call me when you need help scouting the neigborhood for dead trees. I’ll be there.
Scott Andrews
July 20th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
ACTION PLAN:
Get a chain saw and organize volunteers to cut the dead trees down.
I already cut mine down. All of the high level grantsmanship is a waste of time effort and energy. Just do it.
July 21st, 2006 at 4:49 pm
I like how confidently Ashley volunteered me for work.
I don’t know … Ashley’s got more moxy. He won’t let anyone push you around. Maybe he should do it.
Nah, I’ll do it. You’ll need a GPS unit. The hardest thing is going to be collecting the data. Along with the coordinates, you may want additional data, like tree type, condition, age, etc.
July 21st, 2006 at 10:41 pm
Why do you need a GPS to cut down a dead tree?
In my neighborhood a couple of years ago we had a Formosa termite program. Home owners paid $25 each for a yellow ribbon to select trees to be treated and home owner tied them around the tree, with a tag.
The Contractor drove down the street and treated the trees that were tagged. The cost of a GPS would pay for at least 100 ribbons. I’d tag them tomorrow with my own tape if you tell me what color to use.
I drive past hundreds of dead Magnolias on the Neutral Ground every day. Some time ago a few of them were cut down. Suddenly the process stopped. I wonder why. Clearly someone knew they were there.
Remember KISS
July 23rd, 2006 at 1:53 pm
I think the issue mominem is that its expensive to cut down and remove trees, and replant new trees, and Parkway Partners is looking for a justification to spend the money. Of course, they could just take a look and figure it out …
July 26th, 2006 at 9:39 pm
Chainsawing our own trees - especially when you are talking about the size of these trees and the number of them - is probably not going to work. I’ve got trees that are (I’m guessing) 40 ft. tall and within falling distance of my house on one side, my neighbors on two other sides and the street on the 4th side. We need to get GPS and maps so that we can understand the size and scope of our problem, after that we can get help and expertise (like what trees to replace the dead trees). It’s not hopeless because it HAS been done in other neighborhoods and we ARE energetic and persistant enough to get it done.