Jackson Park trees. (Credit: Daniel X. O'Neil/flickr)
An Obama Foundation spokesperson told EHN in an email that many of the trees are currently dead or in poor health. However, the 2018 survey of the area, performed by experts hired by the Foundation, states that only 64 trees currently need to be removed from the area due to their condition or suboptimal locations. The spokesperson said current design calls "for more trees than exist on the site today" and that there are plans to increase the biodiversity of the species. This will include bird- and pollinator-friendly plant selections that will benefit the wildlife that frequents the area. But "one tree does not equal one tree," David Nowak, an emeritus senior scientist with the U.S. Forest Service, told EHN, explaining that the environmental benefits derived from a large tree are 60 to 70 times greater than smaller trees. He also added that planting new trees comes with a risk. "There's no guarantee that the young tree is going to survive," he explained. "New trees have a fairly high mortality rate before they get established."
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