Tree Planting in New Orleans Takes a Hit After $75M Grant Cut
New Orleans needs more trees. The city lost 200,000 trees when Hurricane Katrina tore through. The land still hasn’t recovered. Arthur Johnson has lived in the Lower 9th Ward for decades. He knows the value of trees. They clean the air, soak up floodwater, and give people shade. Without them, the city suffers from more heat and worse pollution.
The government was supposed to help fix this. The $75 million tree planting grant was supposed to make a difference. But now? It’s gone. The U.S. Forest Service canceled it. The funding was supposed to go to communities that needed it most. Instead, politics got in the way.
Tree Planting in Louisiana Stopped as Local Projects Lose Support
Organizations like Sustaining Our Urban Landscape (SOUL) had plans to plant thousands of trees. They already planted over 1,600 trees in New Orleans. They were ready to plant 900 more. But without this grant, those trees won’t go into the ground. Johnson sees the impact.
“People don’t realize how much trees matter,” Johnson says. “They keep our streets from flooding. So they make the air cleaner. They give people shade when it’s too hot to breathe.” Without trees, the heat gets unbearable. The floods get worse.
Tree Planting Projects Across the Country Lose Critical Funding
This isn’t just a Louisiana problem. States across the country are losing funding. In Montana, $745,000 was supposed to help rebuild forests. That project is now dead. In Oregon, wildfires destroyed entire forests in 2020. A $600,000 grant helps. Now? Nothing.
Jackson County, Oregon relied on that funding. The fires left residents exposed. They had no shade, no protection from the wind, no trees left. The grant would have helped rebuild. Without it, they struggle to recover on their own.
Tree Planting in Louisiana Must Continue Despite Federal Cuts
Louisiana knows what happens when trees disappear. People remember Katrina. They see the damage hurricanes leave behind. They know the importance of strong roots in the ground. This grant helps. Now, local groups must find another way.
Arthur Johnson isn’t giving up. He says this fight just got harder. He knows the government doesn’t feel the loss. But the people who live in these communities do. And they will keep pushing for more trees, more support, and more action.
