TxDOT Monitoring Drought-Stressed Trees, Grasses along Highways

TYLER — Texas Department of Transportation office manager Lesia Main has been getting the same phone call over and over for the past few weeks. “There’s a dead tree on the right of way and it’s about to fall,” Main said, describing the repeat calls, then after a moment, adds, “some are more polite about it than others.” The record-setting drought has taken its toll on lawns and gardens across East Texas, and the trees and grasses along the highways are no exception. But just because a tree is brown and without leaves doesn’t mean it’s dead, or even near death.

“The trees are doing what they need to do to survive,” said TxDOT spokesman Larry Krantz. “They can’t go sit down in the air conditioning and have a glass of sweet tea, so they have to conserve what little water they’ve managed to pull from the ground. Their leaves are the key to that process, so by dropping their leaves, the trees are going into conservation mode. It probably looks worse than it is because the trees aren’t all turning at once like they would in a typical fall.”

Krantz said the trees turning a few at a time, and dormant trees standing next to green trees, are probably behind the rash of calls to TxDOT offices demanding immediate action. “We can’t just go out and cut down every tree that looks dead,” Krantz said. “Part of the reason East Texas is so special is because of the number and variety of trees that live here. If we react rashly and start cutting down every tree that might be dead, there won’t be many trees left next spring.”

Ironically, Krantz said, dead trees don’t pose anywhere near the danger to motorists that live trees do. “It’s the live trees that cause the most trouble for us during weather events,” Krantz said. “With their leaves acting as sails catching the wind and limbs heavy with water, a live tree is a lot more likely to fall during high winds and a dead tree. It takes a dead tree years do decompose to the point where it could fall, and since dead trees don’t resist the wind like a live tree, they’re not as likely to be blown down as they are to crumble in place.”

Krantz added that with that slow decay comes time for TxDOT to identify which trees are dead and which are simply in conservation mode. “At any given time we could have as many as eight tree-trimming and removal contracts going across the Tyler District, and they’re focused on what poses the greatest danger to the traveling public.” As for mowing, TxDOT has plans to conduct one more cycle this fall in an attempt to cut down taller-growing grasses.

“A single spark or hot object can cause a fire under these conditions,” Krantz said. “So if a car has to pull off the roadway and it pulls into grass tall enough to touch its exhaust system, that could start a fire. Cutting the grass low to the ground is going to reduce the fire danger and have the added benefit of the thatch trapping moisture close to the ground.”