Hollywood/ Los Angeles Beautification Team Is Replacing Over 1300 Dead Trees in Los Angeles Parks with Healthy, Climate-Ready Trees
Southern California is experiencing a mega drought, high temperatures and reduced water reserves resulting in increased fire risk, reduced air quality and threats to the vitality and habitability of our communities. These conditions have severely weakened thousands of trees in Los Angeles that subsequently succumbed to disease and pests. Trees are living organisms and have a life span. We need to keep planting new generations of trees as we lose the old ones.
With funding from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Hollywood/Los Angeles Beautification Team (LABT) is replacing over 1400 lost trees with large canopy, climate-ready trees. The trees are being planted in high need areas, increasing the vitality and habitability of the communities where they are planted.
The Hollywood/Los Angeles Beautification Team (LABT) has been planting trees since April of 1992 and brings science-based expertise, technical skills and equipment to their work.
Working in public local and regional parks, LABT uses an innovative approach to urban forestry by:
- Planting trees in in parks that are in or adjacent to disadvantaged communities that experience a shortfall of tree canopy
- Carefully selecting and emphasizing the planting of climate-ready trees that have the hardiness and drought tolerance to withstand our changing climate, thereby reducing the current heat island effect resulting from high temperatures and improving outdoor air quality
- Engaging local communities in the process, including supporting residential tree planting through community workshops and increasing community awareness of careers in urban forestry management
- In both plantings and community workshops employing a multi-lingual and multi-cultural community engagement model that LABT has used successfully for over two decades
LABT is well-known for their commitment to underserved youth and has included youth, ages 16 to 24 , in their tree planting projects. For two decades, LABT has been preparing youth for careers in the green jobs sector and for becoming leaders of their communities by assisting in environmental workshops for community residents and other youth.
The parks that received these plantings include Hansen Dam, Stonehurst Recreation Center, Roger Jessup Park, Ritchie Valens Recreation Center, Orcas Park, Devonwood Park, Quimby Park, Woodley Park, Valley Glen Community Park and South Weddington Park.
The climate-ready tree species planted at the parks include: pink trumpet, jacaranda, Indian rosewood, afghan pine, torrey pine, coast live oak, palo verde, silver dollar gum, tipu, Texas red oak, ghost gum, raywood ash and strawberry marina.
The first round of tree planting has been completed and LABT has started its second round of planting at Hansen Dam and other select parks.
With these and other tree plantings in the Los Angeles area, LABT continues with its mission to improve the quality of life in Los Angeles by empowering citizens to change their environment for the better.
