President comes for Frogtown trees

NEIGHBOR NIGHTS

Do you have a plan in case of a household emergency? Are you familiar with our city’s plans for climate resilience? Would you like to learn about green energy alternatives? Join Frogtowners and friends to learn about these and other topics, at Neighbor Night, a monthly community get-together, featuring a delicious home-cooked meal, interactive fun and a short presentation. It’s all free! 5:30-7:30 pm on the first Thursday of the month. April’s Neighbor Night is on Thursday, April 3, at Frogtown Community Center, 230 Como Avenue in St Paul.

Audio

President comes for Frogtown trees_Patricia Ohmans.mp3

Is there anyone in the United States who has not been affected, indirectly or directly, by the changes enacted by our new President and his unelected sidekick? Farmers, consumers, doctors, researchers, students, immigrants – so many lives have been upended, careers aborted, and missions thwarted as the president tears up federal policies and programs, without considering the consequences.
We here at Frogtown Green are no exception.
Granted, we do not provide life-saving malaria bed nets to children in Africa, or pay vital stipends to newly arrived refugees to America, or carry out groundbreaking medical research, like some of the organizations already eviscerated by firings and budget cuts. We don’t have the lifesaving impact of FEMA, (the federal disaster management agency) which Trump has threatened to “get rid of.” Nor are we employees of the Environmental Protection Agency, where over 1,000 workers are now threatened with termination.
But we do pride ourselves on our mission, which is to make Frogtown the greenest and healthiest neighborhood in St Paul.
In service of that mission, over the past decade we’ve planted more than 1,000 trees in Frogtown residents’ yards and public spaces. We were thrilled beyond measure in mid-2024, when we received a substantial tree-planting grant from U.S. Department of Agriculture. This meant that we could hire a couple of people to oversee our volunteer-driven tree planting operation. It meant we could order an unprecedented 300 trees for planting in 2025. We were planning on reaching our second 1,000 trees by 2027–in two years, not 10!
Instead, we are now drastically shrinking our plans to plant trees for our neighbors. We are cancelling orders we made long ago to local nurseries. And we are scrambling to make sure that our one full-time contractor – a Frogtowner for over two decades – will not have to look for work elsewhere, in order to pay his mortgage. Why? Because that USDA grant has been “paused,” in the government’s parlance, while programs are examined for their “wokeness” and employees are asked to sign loyalty pledges.
Is planting trees in Frogtown following a “woke agenda”? Not unless you think it’s “woke” to observe that Frogtown – one of the poorest and most racially mixed neighborhoods in St Paul – has markedly less tree canopy than other neighborhoods. Are we slavishly following a “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion doctrine”? Not unless you think it’s doctrinaire to pride ourselves on serving and including everyone in our multiracial, vibrant, and unforgettable community, without favor or preference. Do we believe climate change is real? Well, yes. And so do 97% of the world’s active climate scientists.
It’s funny. At the same time as we are being forced by the feds to cut way back on tree planting in our neighborhood, the St. Paul City Council is contemplating a new tree ordinance. The ordinance would require any tree that the city cuts down to be replaced, on a one-to-one basis. That’s a great idea, and one that we here in Frogtown support wholeheartedly! We only hope the money will be there to make it a reality.
If you’re concerned about the impact of federal funding cuts on environmental actions large and small, please contribute generously to your favorite organization (or even the city’s forestry department.) Frogtown Green is participating in a multi-group fundraiser on Earth Day in April; please be on the lookout for our “One Minnesota, One Earth” campaign, if you would like to help us out.
We could all use help these days. Frogtown’s need for more trees is not going away, no matter how vociferously climate change is denied at the White House. It will be up to us in St Paul – including us in Frogtown – to try to mitigate its impact, one tree planting at a time.
Patricia Ohmans is a public health professional and founder and co-director of Frogtown Green, a neighborhood environmental sustainability initiative. To find out more, browse www.frogtowngreen.com or call 651-757-5970.