01/06/2023
Dear Friends,
Many of you have emailed and called me regarding the article that was published on January 1st and 2nd on Nola.com and the Q&A with Susannah Burley, Director of SOUL Nola, a tree planting non-profit that was founded in 2016. On behalf of NOLA Tree Project, I feel the need to address the false statements that were made and have been so disrespectful and demeaning, not only to our organization, but most importantly to you the volunteers, donors, and partners that have worked side by side with us for the past 15 years. Equally, this has been an egregious slight to the Department of Parks and Parkways, Monique Pilié, the founder of our organization, neighborhood groups, and other nonprofits that worked to replant trees after Katrina took 100,000 trees from our canopy.
When asked about how things were going regarding the tree canopy almost 20 years after Katrina, the statement, "There hasn't been any great change, which is a real shame." by Susannah Burley, Director of SOUL NOLA.
Also, the staff writer for nola.com, Tristan Baurick, wrote, "While various groups have planted here and there, no one was planting strategically or on a scale that would make much of a difference".
These statements are completely false and disturbing. The reporter obviously did no research or fact checking before the article was published.
I am not one to self-promote. I always felt that my work would do the talking. Now, I realize that many people don't know that since 2007, NOLA Tree Project, formerly Hike for Katreena, has provided over 70,000 trees to our city and its residents through thoughtful, intentional, environmental and safety minded Plantings and Tree Giveaways. We have done this great work in collaboration with our wonderful city agency, the Department of Parks and Parkways, following their strategic plan, recommendations and guidelines. Over 40,000 trees have been planted by NOLA Tree Project in Orleans Parish since 2007 and 30,000 trees have been given away at our highly successful Big TREESY Giveaways. In these numbers are plantings at 23 Parks and Playgrounds, 26 Neutral Grounds & City Properties, 12 Neighborhoods, 12 Community Centers, 21 Schools & Churches that have been landscaped with Louisiana grown trees, shrubs, and fruit orchards. Over 60,000 Volunteers participated!
The Big TREESY Giveaway was a strategic, thoughtful and Intentional plan to:
Get more trees planted.
Educate the public on the importance and need to care for trees that provide storm water absorption, shade, oxygen and beauty. People were afraid of trees post-Katrina and we felt a need to educate residents to get them excited about trees again.
Most importantly, we felt that residents needed to become invested by planting their own trees so they would have a better chance of survival and a long, healthy life.
We recently completed a significant tree planting in the Lakeshore neighborhood, and we are currently implementing a large planting in Gentilly of 150, 30-gallon, 15 ft. tall trees on the neutral grounds on Vermillion, Pasteur and Cameron Blvds. This is a large undertaking due to the size of the trees. Parks and Parkways has designed and strategically planned the entire project in partnership with us.
I will end by saying that SOUL Nola does good work and I appreciate that someone else recognized what we were doing and wanted to join the effort to reforest our city. However, spotlighting one's accomplishments by disregarding and demeaning the effort of others that long predated SOUL Nola's founding is unacceptable.
We thank you for your continued support of NOLA Tree Project!
Sincerely,
Connie Uddo
Director NOLA Tree Project
[email protected]
