Park and recreation workers continue cleanup, debris removal at Dallas parks

(DALLAS) — Dallas Park and Recreation forestry workers are removing storm-ravaged trees and debris in the aftermath of last month’s heavy rains and winds. Park and recreation officials have estimated that more than 700 trees in parks across Dallas did not survive the storm, with many more severely damaged and obstructing roads, power lines, trails, playgrounds and other public areas within city parks.

“Workers are accessing our parks to determine the degree of damages. Our initial responses focus on identifying hazardous trees and their impact on public safety. We are in a recovery phase to address unsafe issues by removing flooding debris, trees on downed power lines, trails and other areas,” said Willis C. Winters, Director, Dallas Park and Recreation Department.

Winters said park workers have determined heavy damage at popular Dallas parks including White Rock Lake, Lake Cliff, Flag Pole Hill, Hamilton, Samuell-Grand, Harry S. Moss and golf courses at Tenison. Currently, Cottonwood, Coombs Creek and Great Trinity Forest trails are still closed as are White Rock Lake and Wagging Tail dog parks. Officials said this damage is unprecedented in the park system and estimate that it could be weeks – even months – for crews to clear debris and trees from severely affected parks.

“We have deployed staff from our facilities, horticulture and grounds divisions to assist forestry crews with recovery operations. Our employees are working days, nights and weekends to restore the parks. They are committed to addressing the safety issues affecting heavily used public areas such as playgrounds, picnic pavilions and athletic fields. We are working tenaciously and diligently to clear the public areas and make sure they are safe,” Winters said.

Storm recovery activities have created a need for officials to reassign key employees to support forestry workers, thus creating the need to adjust the citywide park mowing schedules. “Until our normal mowing cycles can resume, we ask residents to be mindful of our department’s efforts taking place in storm-affected areas,” said Oscar Carmona, park and recreation assistant director for park maintenance and operations.

With unexpected winds gusting to more than 70 mph, pecan, red oak, cedar elm, cottonwood and other tree species were lost. Among the casualties were some of the city’s tallest and oldest trees, ranging in caliper from 6 inches up to more than 60 inches with the majority averaging 24 inches in caliper.

Winters said the department proposes to replace the total number of tree caliper inches lost as opposed to the actual number of trees. “So far, we estimate the total caliper inches for the lost trees at 15,600, resulting in the need for 5,200 new trees to be planted.”

Dallas Park and Recreation will undertake reforestation efforts this fall in order to begin renewing tree canopies throughout the park system. Using volunteers, the department will launch the first of many community-replanting programs that will eventually result in more than 5,000 new trees in parks.

Adding that tree replacements and after-care maintenance is costly, Winters is encouraging Dallas businesses and corporations to create partnerships with the department to assist with funding irrigation for the new trees. Winters explains that not all city parks have irrigation systems that necessary for newly planted trees to survive. The cost of an irrigation system for each new small tree grove is $5,000 for labor and materials. More than $1.25 million is needed for the new plantings, according to Winters.

Onsite park recovery operations involve crews manually picking up tree limbs, branches, and rubble. Smaller trees and branches are fed through industrial chippers that produce mulch for use in parks. Crews use heavy equipment to manage larger trees and branches, which have to be disposed of in the city landfill.

Heavy winds not only affected parks but other park and recreation facilities including 16 recreation centers and eight aquatic centers and community pools which experienced power outages for several days. The aquatics facilities and recreation centers have opened.