Kingwood needs more trees, soon

Efforts to make portions of Kingwood Drive a livable forest once again are being formulated by the members of the Kingwood Service Association, the Kingwood Service Association Parks Foundation and Texas Department of Transportation.

Since the summer of 2012, the organizations have worked hand in hand to reforest areas of Kingwood Drive, adjacent to the Kingwood Medical Center and U.S. 59 that were devastated by the drought of 2011.

Dana Cote, District Landscape Architect for TxDOT, said KSA has become an effective partner in the reforesting process, and has worked to keep the lines of communication open between KSA and TxDOT.

"They have consulted with us regularly since the need for the project (became apparent)," Cote said.

Phase one of the reforestation process began in the summer with removal of hundreds of dead trees, followed by the phase two portion, which involves the removal of tree stumps and the process of developing an effective irrigation system.

Phase two of the reforestation process began in October after funding was approved through the KSA Parks Foundation, said KSA President Dee Price.

Phase three of the project will involve the actual reforestation to include the planting of seedlings supplemented with larger trees, and expected to commence by February.

"The best time to plant trees is while they are dormant," said KSA Parks Committee Chairman Dick McGucken.

The property that KSA is working so hard to restore is owned by the state of Texas.

For more than 30 years KSA has helped to maintain the beauty of the area, which is considered by many of Kingwood's residents to be a gateway to their neighborhood.

"Part of KSA's mission is to maintain and improve the entrances to Kingwood," said Price. "We see this as investment that will help sustain home and business values for everyone in Kingwood."

Many of the trees lost in the Kingwood area to the severe drought were pine trees, which are native to the Gulf Coast and Piney Woods region of Southeast Texas.

TxDOT estimates that the area lost 30 to 40 percent of the tree population in the range of 50 to 70 years old, and another 30 percent of the newer trees planted before the start of the drought, Cote said.

"When you lose 30 percent of your existing trees and 30 percent of the new ones, that adds up in a hurry," Cote added.

To ensure native plants along with heartier vegetation are planted and able to flourish, KSA is consulting with botany experts, arborists, irrigation specialists and professional landscapers to obtain cost estimates and to ensure the most cost effective measures are used in the reforestation process.

"We hope to have those ready in time for the KSA Parks and Board meetings in January," Price said.

At that meeting, community associations will decide how to move forward with the reforestation process, and thereby allow KSA to meet with TxDOT officials to get approval for design and architectural plans.

Currently, Cote says that TxDOT will only commit to the replanting of seedlings in those areas.

"We had already planned, post drought, that we were going to clean out the dead material and then replenishing the area with seedlings throughout the district," he said.

"We can't afford to go back in there with bigger trees."

Cote said KSA wants to supplement those seedlings with larger trees, and install an irrigation system, all of which are ideas Cote said TxDOT can support.

Meanwhile, KSA encourages KSA residents, businesses to make a tax-deductible donation to the reforestation efforts.

To learn more, or make a donation, go to KingwoodServiceAssociation.org or www.KingwoodParks.com.