What did the tree planter say to the White House?
Dr. Jackie Cole watched half her city’s trees—some 100 years old—die as Galveston became a “city of dead trees” after a drought weakened 40,000 of them, and a hurricane flooded them afterward with saltwater.
Dr. Cole’s leadership in helping remove the dead trees and plant new ones gave her insight into the value that government agencies assign to city trees. FEMA funds were used to remove the trees, but no funds were available to replace them.
Honored as a “Champion of Change” at the White House last month, Dr. Cole made three key points:
- Trees must be shifted over from being thought of as beautification and landscaping to being thought of as critical infrastructure.
- Trees clean our air, filter our water, help with stormwater runoff, lower asthma rates, lower energy use, increase property values, and lower crime levels.
- We cannot live without trees.
Forward to 2:30 in this video to hear Dr. Cole herself.









