Chief Operating Officer Chris Nunes told board members on March 20 that despite reforestation efforts in 2024, 7,098 trees were lost across the township, mainly due to invasive species and climate patterns.
The big picture
The Woodlands Township is looking to new funding avenues and sustainability efforts for its communitywide treescapes as increasing severe weather and invasive species infestations are creating challenges in forestry.
Since 2023, the township board of directors has invested $1 million annually in reforestation efforts, aiming to plant nearly 6,000 trees a year. However, in the same timeframe, tree removal costs tripled to over $2 million annually. Before 2023, the township planted 3,000 trees annually, Nunes said.
“It’s not just, ‘Go plant 5,000 trees in all these locations.’ That is a lot of work,” Nunes said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re keeping up the trees, and, more importantly, keeping up the 6,000 trees we just planted this year as well as the year before and the 3,000 a year before that.”
The township is focused on removing invasive vines and reforesting damaged areas, an initiative aimed at increasing the survivability of trees.Nunes said the jump in costs for tree removal and forest management—which oversees all other tree management efforts—is directly related to drought and severe weather conditions.
“There has been a slight decline in [tree] survivability in recent years, largely due to intensified weather extremes, drought and invasive species pressures,” Nunes said.
The township plants a variety of native trees and shrubs in the area to create levels of forest cover, including a canopy and underbrush. However, some key invasive species have also played a greater part in forest maintenance issues.
Nunes said the township has already taken steps to improve trees’ survival such as increasing the number of waterings per year for all young trees from five to 30 times. The township brought watering operations in house by purchasing its own water irrigation systems and vehicles to slowly accommodate the additional water cost. However, weather fluctuations such as droughts, hurricanes and wind storms have caused a slight decline in survivability, Nunes said.
“Younger trees are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather fluctuations during their establishment period, while mature trees face stress from aging root systems and disease,” Nunes said. “Additionally, storm-related damage from high winds pose a challenge to both types of trees.”
Director of Parks and Recreation John McGowan said Hurricane Beryl was responsible for destroying around 860 of the 7,098 trees that had to be removed in 2024, while a previously unknown widespread invasive beetle infestation also caused a weakening of trees.
“Before the droughts and the freezes in 2023 and such, ... the average was about 800 trees a year that we would take down,” McGowan said.
Several board members said during the March 20 board meeting that the township will begin looking into county and nonprofit partnerships to help fund tree maintenance.
“In the recent past, drivers didn’t need a sign to know they were in The Woodlands. They experienced The Woodlands as they were enveloped by trees lining the roadways. Today, the medians and rights of way are threatened by dead and missing trees, occlusive vines, and naked intersections,” board member Shelley Sekula-Gibbs said. “We have to intensify our efforts to restore our natural forest.”
Some context
Since 2023, The Woodlands area has been subjected to multiple severe weather events which have impacted reforestation efforts:
2023:
5,775 new trees planted, 5,391 lost
Aug. 1: Montgomery County declared under “significant” drought status
Oct. 1: Township fall reforestation efforts begin
Nov. 30: Severe drought conditions lifted
Dec. 31: Township fall reforestation efforts end
2024:
5,187 new trees planted, 7,098 trees lost
Jan. 14-17: Hard freeze and winter storm
March 28: Township spring reforestation efforts begin
May 16: Greater Houston area hit with derecho, tornadoes
May 31: Township spring reforestation efforts end
July 8: Hurricane Beryl landfall
Sept. 15: Drought conditions reinstated countywide
Oct. 1: Township fall reforestation efforts begin
Dec. 31: Township fall reforestation efforts end
Looking ahead
Nunes said March 26 the first official update to the township’s Integrated Forestry Management Plan since 2013 is nearly completed, and it will go before the board at a future meeting this summer. The plan governs best practices for maintaining the township’s wooded areas.
Sekula-Gibbs said she will also request the township invest $2 million into reforestation and invasive vine management efforts during the 2025 budget workshops being held in August, as opposed to the prior funding of $1 million annually.
“This amount may not be needed every year, but recent storms, droughts and development have created an arboreal crisis. It is our duty to preserve The Woodlands and that means preserving the trees,” Sekula-Gibbs said
