STOCKTON, Calif. — Plots of partly unearthed dirt and broken tree stakes dot the landscape at some south Stockton parks after vandals allegedly targeted growing trees planted by community groups and volunteers to help the historically disadvantaged community over the past year.
In June of 2020, the city of Stockton was awarded a $10.8 million Transformative Climate Communities grant from the State of California.
The grant aims to help Stockton's southside community, which state studies show deals with the region's poorest air quality and the city's warmest temperatures. Part of the grant funding went to community groups to plant over 1,750 trees in south Stockton, remove old stumps and beautify parks starting in 2021.
Since the disbursement of the funding, south Stockton native and city councilwoman for the area, Kimberley Warmsley, says over 150 trees have been planted during park cleanup events.
"On several of the tree planting events, I mean, you had not only residents from south Stockton, but the whole city of Stockton who came out and donated their time," Warmsley said, adding that the events reminded her of the days she would spend time at the parks as a child. "Some of these parks desperately need to be revitalized and so planting these trees also changed the entire landscape of the parks."
The scene following those tree planting events stands juxtaposed to what Warmsley says she saw at Williams Brotherhood Park after getting an unsettling call from a community member Sunday reporting vandalism.
"I went out there to look at the trees and when I got there, I noticed that there were probably somewhere between five to seven trees either damaged; they were broken in half, some of them were literally uprooted," Warmsley said. "In discussion about replanting some of these trees, I learned from Puentes and Little Manilla Rising, that there has been an uptick in some of the trees that have been donated and planted, being removed and or vandalized"
While they only stood a few feet in size, Warmsley says the effort put in to plant the trees at various parks was a tall ask and made a towering difference for the community.
"Although many of them were very little, just seeing how big they have grown to now knowing that many of them are not there anymore-- that's taking away the process of our young people and our children having access to shade when they do go to the park," Warmsley said. "Trees act as a purifier to our air, so it recycles the air, it cleans the air, and that helps with mitigating people who do suffer from asthma-- and also the beautification."
After seeing the alleged vandalism firsthand, Warmsley says she felt compelled to take action, making a post on her Facebook page and announcing a new allotment of discretionary funding to help replace the damaged or stolen trees.
"I'm going to be writing that check for $500 to send out to Little Manila to repurchase those trees. I'm also thinking about doing a letter-writing campaign to various nurseries within Stockton that may want to donate some trees," Warmsley said. "I'm hoping that this message also empowers the various schools that are in the community to be actively involved and talk to our young people about the importance of preserving our trees."
With hopes of one day restoring a natural tree canopy in south Stockton, Warmsley and community advocates say the responsibility falls on everyone to help the community improve and grow.
"We have to continue to build resilient communities and the only way that we're going to build resilient communities is we continue to get in the game and be proactive and be the example," Warmsley said. "Never give up and let's continue to put in the work and preserve our parks for decades to come."
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