September 3, 2024 • 51 mins
In this enriching episode of Ensemble Texas 🎙️, host Cory Ames sits down with Tom Corser to delve into the visionary plans for the Arboretum San Antonio.
Join us as Tom takes us through the master planning and development process of the arboretum, stressing the importance of public input and the involvement of top-tier collaborators like the Sasaki company. Discover the exciting features planned for the 188-acre site, located on the former Republic Golf Course, including a grand amphitheater, a historical oak tree, and the essential water resources running through Salado Creek.
Tom dives deep into the benefits of green infrastructure, from mitigating urban heat islands to controlling flooding, and details the phased development approach designed to balance growth with natural preservation. He also emphasizes the vital role of the community in shaping this green space, outlining the various ways to get involved.
Listen in to learn about their ambitious goals for financial sustainability, educational programming, and ensuring equitable green spaces for all. Don't miss the chance to be part of a legacy that will enhance San Antonio's environmental landscape for generations to come.
**Tune in for insights, inspiration, and ways you can contribute to building a greener, healthier San Antonio.**
âš« Learn more about Cory Ames and Ensemble Texas at EnsembleTexas.com
âš« Follow Cory on Instagram @ensembletexas and YouTube @CoryAmesYT
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ABOUT CORY AMES:
Cory Ames is the founder and CEO of Ensemble Texas, a media organization promoting environmental, economic, and cultural resiliency across San Antonio and Texas. He’s passionate about connecting people to the natural beauty and rich history of the region, whether through video, podcasts, or long-form storytelling. With years of experience as a Texas Native Plant educator and content creator, Cory uses his platform to inspire sustainable living and amplify the voices of local businesses and environmental advocates.
Cory lives in San Antonio with his wife and two kids. He enjoys working in the garden, getting outside to explore the city’s natural spots, and playing hoops when he can. When he’s not producing content for Ensemble Texas, he’s likely planning his next adventure in Texas’ great outdoors.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You've got to have a balanced community and that
community has to have that openspace, that green space.
And so we're filling a voidfrom an equity perspective, but
we're also filling a void froman overall San Antonio
perspective, and that we aren'tputting in a second botanical
(00:24):
garden.
We aren't putting in a secondbotanical garden, we aren't
putting in a second hard burgerpark.
They have their purpose, theirplace and we will build a
fantastic place.
We will put in placeprogramming that can complement
that geography, that culture,those people that attend there,
(00:45):
be it visitors or residentsalike.
But one of the fundamentalprinciples that our board has
really resolved to is that wewill make a fantastic place.
The Arboretum San Antonio.
It's the idea of the Arboretumthat we want to bring to San
Antonio.
It's the idea of the Arboretumthat we want to bring to San
(01:07):
Antonio and to back to SouthTexas is.
We want to have ideas that comeout of there, the research that
we might do about what trees togrow, how to grow the native
trees, that we have thecelebration of those trees right
, the history that we can bringto people's backyard, that we
can bring to people's pocketparks, that we can bring to the
city and the county.
We can grow trees in a nurserythat we're going to build.
(01:29):
We can give those trees to thecity, the county and to the
residents of San Antonio, suchthat that arboretum becomes San
Antonio.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Sure, we know San Antonio wouldn't be San Antonio
without its river, but whatabout its trees, from the
majestic live oaks that shelter,shade and support the lives of
many butterflies, birds, mammalsand more, to?
The magnolias lining our riverwalk, under whose dense foliage
many a tourist will enjoy atwo-foot-tall margarita.
(02:02):
Our pecan trees, maybe thetallest growing trees in Texas,
reaching 70 to 100 feet tall,with a sweet edible nut beloved
as one of the most valuablecultivated crops with origins in
North America.
The many hackberries,affectionately called a trash
tree.
That, while short-lived, bearsfruits ravished by a dozen
(02:25):
different species of birds, andthe species of tree that
countless numbers ofcaterpillars call home.
San Antonio, despite anyone'spreconceived notions or dusty,
worn-out images of the Alamo, isa place for trees.
It was announced in fall 2023that a future San Antonio
(02:47):
Arboretum would replace theRepublic Golf Course, a 188-acre
site along the Salado Creek,off Military Drive in southeast
San Antonio.
With that announcement, theorganization behind this project
needed a plan behind thisproject needed a plan, and so
(03:10):
you and I, the rest of SanAntonio, received an invitation,
because the organizationArboretum San Antonio is
committed to not just making aplace for San Antonio, but
making a place that is SanAntonio.
So for us, as San Antonians,this presents an opportunity to
learn, understand, perhapsreimagine what our trees mean to
(03:32):
this city, and so to discusshow we make a place for trees
and place for you and me.
I'm joined by the current CEOof Arboretum San Antonio, tom
Corser.
I'm joined by the current CEOof Arboretum San Antonio, tom
Corser.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Let's break some ground and start first with
Tom's affection for this city, Imarried into San Antonio back
in 1983.
I was going to Texas A&M andmet my wife, Tina, there and we
got married in 83.
But then we quickly went up toWisconsin for more school and
then ended up taking a job withAT&T Bell Labs out in New Jersey
and we spent about 33 years inNew Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
(04:16):
then about eight years ago movedback to San Antonio and so I
brought Tina home and I wasstill working at the time but
then retired from JuniperNetworks, a technology company
out in California.
Just Narrows with this idea ofan arboretum, came along and
(04:42):
tapped me on the shoulder andsaid I got a great thing for you
to do, and so I officiallyfailed at retirement and got
involved in the arboretum in abig way.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Let's talk about the arboretum project, more of an
introduction to it.
Where is it?
Is it going to be located?
What's the status of thatparticular site?
And maybe some initial, just sowe can start to contextualize
in our minds, like what arebroad timelines on this project
of you know, opening days, etc.
Sure we?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
initially, uh, started off on a different site
than where we are now.
Uh, but through uh, someinspection and kind of analysis
of a conservation easement thatthey had on a spotted track
which is now owned by Texas A&Mand San Antonio River Authority,
just beside the TJ Maxxfacility, they could only allow
(05:36):
four acres for an arboretum andthat just wouldn't work.
So we went on kind of a deepdive analysis of different
properties on the south sidewhere we could have an arboretum
and our intention was is tosituate this somewhere on the
south side as an initiative ofsomewhat green space equity
balance.
(05:56):
And we landed one of sixproperties that we analyzed, the
Old Republic Golf Club, whichis just off Southeast Military,
between 37 and 410.
Very accessible, 12 minutesfrom downtown, about a mile and
a half from Brooks, and aperfect spot.
(06:16):
It really is ideal.
It's got the Salado Creek runsthrough it.
It's got four miles of formergolf cart concrete cart paths
that are in pretty good shape.
Some areas need some love butyou know, it's got a lot of
existing trees.
It's got a pond, a recycledwater contract that can keep
(06:39):
that pond full of recycled waterso we can put in that
infrastructure to keep whateverwe need to green without
impacting the edwards aquifer,so a very sustainable story.
We're really excited about thatum and it's.
It's just a a wonderful placewith some vistas and beautiful
heritage trees that 150 to 200year old uh, trees that can
(07:04):
reflect on a lot of the historyof San Antonio we can maybe dive
into that later but just a lotof dimensions on this property
that make it well suited for anarboretum.
It was purchased in two tranches.
One was Brooks, because of theproximity to Brooks, and Leo
Gomez, the CEO of Brooks, is onour board and he was so excited
(07:27):
but he brought this to theirboard of directors for a
consideration strategicallyabout an investment outside of
their 3,100 acre footprint.
Brooks to say let's raise thattide of the whole area
economically right and by Brooksinvesting in this Arboretum
they can have a role in that andit's just been very not just a
(07:51):
financial investment of the landbut the marketing investment
and the synergies that we bringoperational.
The second tranche was and wewere grateful enough to the
county for a grant of $7.3million capital money for three
purposes.
One is to buy additional landthat's out of the floodplain.
(08:13):
So we bought 18 acres additionthat's largely out of the
floodplain, for facilities andthings as well.
It'll pay for master planningand for road and parking lot
infrastructure as we as we planout this arboretum.
Really great to have you here.
This is probably the favoritepart of my job.
Right is to give people toursof the area, but I just wanted
(08:36):
to give you a view of theproperty itself.
Here's southeast military 37sup here.
Brooks is up in this area.
We've got 410 coming down here,so it's a very accessible piece
of land.
Former Republic Golf Club.
We've got neighborhoods on bothsides of us, so an extremely
(08:58):
rich start to our arboretum.
The yellow lines are the cartpaths and it's got about four
miles on this plot of land.
We've got a number of trees onhere, a number of groups of
trees.
We've got a pond.
It's about a seven acre pondfilled with recycled water, so
saws, as they have a watertreatment plant just south of us
(09:19):
.
Here they create recycled wateror purple pipe water that can
be used for irrigating a formergolf course or now an arboretum,
and so we have 300 acre feet,which is a lot of water to keep
this a very verdant place.
So it's not potable I couldn'tdrink it, but the plants can.
(09:39):
We're keeping this green andalive but we're not impacting
the Edwards aquifers.
This property is 188 acres.
We've got the Salado Creekrunning through the property.
The orange lines here are theCity of San Antonio, howard Peak
, greenway Trail, right-of-way,not built yet but soon to be
(10:01):
built and will be our bike trailAgain, that necklace that goes
around the city.
This is going to be built andwill be our bike trail again,
that necklace that goes aroundthe city.
This is going to be a componentof that.
As we dive into this masterplanning and understand, okay,
what are we going to dopurposely with this and what are
the phases going to break up?
It is going to be chunked upinto phases and we'll look at
what we develop, what we keepmore natural and untouched
(10:25):
versus what we develop into theexperience.
This oak tree is one of our kindof revered trees of the area
and it says a lot about our areaand means a lot to all of us at
the Arboretum.
This tree is estimated to be150 to 200 years old and, uh,
(10:51):
you know, it's a great point ofeducation, it's a great point of
celebration of heritage because, you know, you could imagine
telling a story of what thistree has witnessed, right it's.
It's pretty exciting,especially as you you you gather
a story of what this tree haswitnessed, right it's pretty
exciting, especially as yougather a group of students under
a canopy like this and starttelling stories of the trees and
(11:14):
our Native Americans thatsettled here and what they did
with the pecans and what theydid with the mesquite seeds and
how they embrace the shade, howthey interacted with the creek
and utilize the land for farmingand so forth.
So it provides a rich contextfor our heritage and we're very
(11:34):
excited about telling thosestories and gathering those
people to learn those stories.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Tom, I'd love to hear if you could just define what
an arboretum is and why that'sdifferent than some of the other
green spaces that San Antonioalready enjoys.
We have a botanical garden, areally wonderful one at that,
and of course we have many cityparks.
We have natural areas availableto us.
So what's different and specialand unique about an arboretum?
Speaker 1 (12:04):
So arboretum the word arboretum, arbor, tree, retum
is a Latin word for place, placefor trees, and in comparison to
a botanical garden.
Botanical garden, and you'reright, we have a phenomenal
botanical garden here in SanAntonio and it's revered by many
, including myself.
But it is, by nature, bydefinition, a very highly
(12:25):
manicured and beautiful gardenthat you walk through, and it
has trees as well, right?
Whereas I think of it as aspectrum where a botanical
garden is that highly manicuredspace, where, on the other end,
an arboretum is more of a walkin the woods, where it's more of
a nature-based.
Breedom is more of a walk in thewoods, where it's more of a
nature-based, and we will havethose instances of manicured
(12:49):
spots and beautiful places totake those quinceanera pictures
or to propose to yourbride-to-be or groom-to-be, and
there's going to be a mix.
And so where we land on thatspectrum will be defined through
our master planning process,right, In terms of how much
manicured space versus how muchnatural.
(13:10):
But an arboretum really is thatplace where you can look at the
land and see it for the way itwas and the way it can be in the
future, and we will plant trees, we will plant native trees, we
(13:35):
will do research to understandwhat new trees we can bring in
that will sustain us in thefuture right, what trees are
most apt to grow in ourneighborhoods, in the woods
where you can remediate yourselffor your own soul as well as
your community, and bring peopleout to celebrate whatever it is
you want to sell?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
So I'm wondering what is the big why behind the
Arboretum?
Of course, I think you explainit right now and it's something
that people can get excitedabout.
It's like of course San Antonioshould have this, why not?
I mean, it sounds like a reallywonderful, remarkable thing for
us to enjoy.
But what do y'all see as theArboretum's purpose Like?
(14:11):
What is it a response to in SanAntonio?
What is it addressing as maybeboth an opportunity or problems
that exist within the city?
Like what purpose does theArboretum serve, as y'all
forecast it for the city of SanAntonio and the greater area?
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Yeah, I think a big part of that is place.
The place where we're havingthis arboretum is on the
southeast side of town and SanAntonio is seeing enormous
growth right and it's becomemore evenly radial outside of
downtown right.
Our north has seen a lot of thegrowth in our past, but in the
(14:44):
future we're seeing a great dealof infrastructure being
installed in the South,companies locating on the South
side right.
That's going to bring growth tothe South.
And an important part of anycommunity is a balanced
community.
We need to focus on housing,streets, schools, food desert
(15:11):
situations, schools food desertsituations, eat island
situations that we find a lotprevalent in the South and the
West, and those are importantissues to address.
But, once addressed, you've gotto have a balanced community
and that community has to havethat open space, that green
space, and so we're filling avoid from an equity perspective,
(15:35):
but we're also filling a voidfrom an overall San Antonio
perspective in that we aren'tputting in a second botanical
garden, we aren't putting in asecond hard burger park.
They have their purpose, theirplace and their programming and
so forth.
We will build a fantastic place.
(15:55):
We will put in placeprogramming that can complement
that geography, that culture,those people that attend there,
be it visitors or residentsalike.
But one of the fundamentalprinciples that our board has
really resolved to is that wewill make a fantastic place, the
(16:18):
Arboretum San Antonio.
It's the idea of the Arboretumthat we want to bring to San
Antonio and, in fact, to SouthTexas.
We want to have ideas that comeout of there, the research that
we might do about what trees togrow, how to grow the native
trees that we have, thecelebration of those trees right
, the history that we can bringto people's backyard, that we
(16:40):
can bring to people's pocketparks, that we can bring to the
city and the county.
We can grow trees in a nurserythat we're going to build.
We can give those trees to thecity, the county and to the
residents of San Antonio, suchthat that arboretum becomes San
Antonio.
(17:06):
It's nice to have these waterfeatures at an Arboretum and you
know this is a really specialplace because San Antonio's made
up this network of creekwaysand we've got to manage it and
we've had the San Antonio RiverAuthority out here for a hike
and they're very engaged andinterested in helping us manage
(17:30):
this creekway, in helping usmanage this creekway both from a
preservation perspective aswell as a use perspective.
So we want people to understandthe creekways and the dynamics
of the flora and fauna that arein this riparian zone they call
it and also understand theinvasive species problem that we
(17:51):
have and how we can begin tomanage that.
But we've got to make sure thatpeople use it in the right way,
and that's where the RiverAuthority is such experts at.
This is interaction with publicuse of spaces, as well as
making sure public use it in theright way.
And that's very important to usis that we preserve this and
(18:15):
make sure that some of our banksdon't erode and that we do the
right things to repair anydamage that exists or prevent
any further damage.
So it's really important.
One thing that we have on ourlist is to monitor the water
quality both on the Salado Creekas well as in our pond of
recycled water, that we have tounderstand its condition as well
(18:40):
as what possible things wemight do to make sure we
preserve it right, because youknow we want to make sure we
have an environment that fostersthe wildlife right the birds,
the fish and that wholeecosystem that goes with having
a pond.
You know there's still a lot ofquestion about whether we'll
have fishing there or not.
(19:02):
Right, that has to be vettedthrough our master planning
process.
Right, I have an opinion, butthat doesn't count as much as
San Antonio's opinion.
We were out here this yearduring the Bursura Bash and we
took out a whole bunch of tiresand trash and things like that.
So this is considerably cleanerthan it was last year at this
(19:24):
time.
But given the recent rains thatwe've had and the flooding
that's incurred, there's verylittle trash here.
So I'm very pleased with thethe lack of uh uh, gathering of
just minor trash and thingsalong the creek.
So that's, that's a goodpositive, but, like all of our
creek ways, we do suffer fromthat.
(19:44):
We'll have a big volunteerforce eventually that will come
out and maintain this andamazing interest in San Antonio
to volunteer out here to peopleto come out and participate in
this.
(20:07):
We've got a couple big things todo right now.
We've got master planning,which is underway.
Great team, we're making greatprogress, so that's kind of on
its way.
We've got to do development,which is important because we've
got to have operational funding.
We've got to have funding forwhatever master planning
(20:29):
produces.
In terms of phase one, it'sgoing to be a fairly steep
dollar cost to do that.
And three is we we've got tofind, uh, that next generation
of ceo to, to, to replace me asI retire.
So, um, one of the things I getreal excited about from a
development perspective is whatwe could do here on the property
(20:53):
to attract people, to kind ofhelp them with their vision
right.
What could we do?
That would be indicative ofwhat you could do in an
arboretum.
This spot here is perfect.
I'm trying to get our landscapeto mow this regularly and begin
to get grass to grow.
I want to get some of ourrecycled water out in this area
(21:15):
and make a hilly knoll or almostan amphitheater, put a stage
down there and have some events,because I think this would be a
perfect place under the stars,under the moonlight, to have a
concert.
I just get very excited aboutthat.
Have a concert I just get veryexcited about that.
(21:38):
We are fortunate to be with allthe great springs that we have
and the San Antonio River and we, through history, we've
utilized that and it's reflectedin our greenery and the state
of the city and that's somethingthat we want to celebrate
through this arboretum is toshow that history.
Again, we have heritage treesthat have been here 200 years,
and so that's a huge educationalvehicle for us to celebrate our
(22:00):
heritage, of reflecting back onour Native American brethren,
our Spanish brethren, of ourMexican brethren, who've come
here and utilize the land, thewater and the trees to sustain
themselves, and I think it's avery exciting prospect of that
celebration.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I agree and I'm curious, tom, perhaps while
having been someone with anaffinity for nature and trees
what has been in your threeyears at this leadership
position for the Arboretum, whathave been some major learnings
or new understandings thatyou've come to about that living
(22:41):
heritage of San Antonio thatyou personally feel most excited
for people to share in, withthe outcomes of?
Speaker 1 (22:50):
the Arboretum, with the outcomes of the Arboretum.
You know there's a number ofthings.
I've been on a huge learningcurve right and I've surrounded
myself, obviously, with ourboard of directors and board of
advisors, who are very rich in alot of different areas, be it
civil engineering, be itarborists, be it professors at
Trinity and Texas A&M, sanAntonio, or representatives from
(23:12):
SARA, sawss and CPS that aremore nature and sustainability
based, and so I've surroundedmyself with those people and
learned a lot.
So I've come up a huge learningcurve in terms of what the area
means and what trees mean toSan Antonio and how we can help
mitigate some of the heatislands with the shade, how we
(23:32):
can help San Antonio and how wecan help mitigate some of the
heat islands with the shade, howwe can help by the green
infrastructure, as Suzanne Scottlikes to call it right, how
that helps embody the mitigationof the flooding that we have
right, and how it can treat oursoils and so forth.
I was at the Arboretum the otherday with a group of arborists
and environmentalists and wewere talking about what kind of
(23:55):
things we could do near term,before master planning is done,
to improve the site.
And we were standing at thisbeautiful vista, where you
looked out over this expansivearea, and off to the side was
this what they call a snag tree,which is a dead tree that was
still standing and it had, youknow, all sorts of vines and it
(24:16):
just, you know, disrupted theview of these other beautiful
live trees.
And I pointed to it and said Iwonder if we could take that
down because it kind of disruptsthat.
And boy, I was taken to task.
I was went to school and theysaid no, tom, that's exactly
what an arboretum is is to showthat and to highlight that and
make that a learning lesson forpeople is that's an ecosystem
(24:38):
for nature, right, birds nest inthere, bugs nest in there,
animals live in there, right,and they make their home there
and that's part of thatecosystem.
That's what an arboretum is,right.
And again, that spectrum Italked about a botanical garden
in an arboretum.
A botanical garden might beinclined to take that down right
(24:58):
away, just because it isn'tthat manicured spot, but we've
got to take that as a lesson, asa learning point, right, it was
for me, as will be for ourfuture visitors there.
So I think that was just agreat example of the kind of
things that I've learned throughthis and you know, I'm again
fortunate to be surrounded bysuch great people to do that.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
The metaphors are aplenty, with the life cycle of
a tree still on surface afterit's life and home to many.
Tom, you've mentioned thismaster planning phase that y'all
are in right now.
Can you describe more of whatthat is, what the timelines on
the master plan and the resultsmight be from that?
(25:39):
Like what could we expect ascommunity members?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
So once we acquired the land last year and actually
closed on it, that was the nextlogical step, because now we're
left with 188 acres that's beenfallow for four years.
Great Start has trees, has acreek, has a cart pass, has a
right-of-way for the bike trailsto go through it, so it's a lot
of great bones, but they'rebones right.
(26:03):
So we had to initiate a masterplanning.
We went through a very formalprocess of selection and went
from 18 high quality responsesto a request for qualifications
down to three and we did an RFPrequest for proposals and we
formed a committee off of ourboard and board of advisors to
(26:24):
decide on who to select.
We selected Sasaki, anextremely deep company that has
a lot of experience in publicgardens and doing the master
plan as well as the followthrough.
So we've been about threemonths under our wing now with
them and we've already completedphase one of that effort of
(26:45):
baselining our land, our water,the flora and fauna and the
community.
And we're going to have a.
We've had a couple of pop-upevents already with their
engagement.
We're asking all of San Antonioto come and voice and tell us
what they'd like to see, tell uswhat their vision is for an
arboretum Learn about what anarboretum is as well as inspire
(27:09):
us about what they would like tosee.
But the master planning processis about a 12-month process
that we're going through.
It involves Sasaki, with a lotof deep resources there, but it
also engages a number of firmsin San Antonio and that's, I
think, a really big component ofthe team that we put together
(27:30):
to do this master planning.
It's not just people fromoutside San Antonio.
It has a lot of bones orintelligence and culture and
experience of San Antonio,people who know the flora and
fauna, people who know the land,people who know the stories,
people who know the community.
The master planning has four keydeliverables.
One is a strategic plan.
(27:52):
We've been through strategicplanning before, but we're
renewing that.
Right.
We've learned a lot in thosethese three years that we've
been together and and so we'retrying to reflect that and
redoing that strategic plan justto kind of make sure we're
we're solid about who we are,why we are, mission, vision,
values.
And then second component isthe the site plan.
(28:13):
What are we going to do with188 acres?
That's a lot of land and thatwill take time.
It'll take a fair investment tomake happen.
Third component is theoperations plan.
Right now we don't have anoperating arboretum, so we've
got to understand the businessmodel, understand the
programming model, the staffingover time, how we're going to do
(28:35):
the fundraising, coincidentwith the phases that we describe
in the site plan.
And the fourth and this issomething Sasaki was adamant
about bringing in is thiscommunity engagement.
We've got a very strong teamthat's engaging the community to
understand what we do with thisland and to help advise us
about what directions we take onspecifics on programming,
(28:56):
specifics on features of theland, things they'd like to do
there.
We've got a survey that's onour website that I urge
everybody to take and provideyour voice into that.
You've got a couple focusgroups that we've got subject
matter experts coming togetherto kind of again advise us on
those directions.
There's a big tradition in SanAntonio of Easter picnics.
(29:20):
Right, we'd love to be thatdestination, but we've got to do
that and have places for thatand appropriate accommodations,
and so all those things need togo into that mix about who San
Antonio is.
All those things need to gointo that mix about who San
Antonio is, and that's why it'sso important that A we have a
(29:41):
team on the master planning teamthat knows San Antonio.
That can continue to representthat as we go through this
process.
But more importantly is thevoice of San Antonio through the
pop-up events, through thecommunity events, through the
survey, through the focus groups.
We need to hear in volume thosevoices such that we represent
all those needs in the Arboretum.
Well, this is part of theHoward Peak Greenway Trails and
(30:09):
it right now is connected to theSalado Creek Greenway Trail
which goes up to Southside Lions, past the AT&T Center and up to
, you know, hardburger Park.
They just built this.
I don't know where they standwith respect to the ribbon
cutting, but it's in great shape.
They did a fantastic job thecity did with this and we're
(30:32):
very excited to have this as ourneighbor.
But they've done nice,responsible things like
semi-permeable parking spaces,they've got restrooms, they've
got art, they've got mapping,safety things, maintenance for
(30:53):
bikes, things like that.
So they do it right and it'sone of the assets of our city
that we're happy, as anarboretum, to play into right,
to have the greenway trails onthe property.
It's a very exciting time.
We've had a lot of discussionsabout do we actively work to
(31:15):
restore it to what it was, whichis almost a false positive in
the sense that you can't reallydo that.
We are where we are and theidea is to to embrace the, the
native plants and any researchthat we might do about future
plantings, but how we couldevolve this to be.
(31:38):
Hey, here's what this landlooks like today and what it
evolves to right.
We will manage our invasivespecies, we will manage invasive
grasses and put in things thatare more sustainable and native.
But it's important for peopleto here in the city of san
(31:58):
antonio, to have a place to lookat here's what that land looked
like and to to invite ourmexican brethren, our native
american brethren, to come inand tell stories of the land
that has been passed down theirgenerations, to impart on me, on
your children and theirchildren's children, about how
(32:20):
this land was utilized and thehistory that came out of it.
I think that's an extremelyrich component of this arboretum
.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Are there particular locations or sites or arboretums
gardens that we are takinginspiration from?
Speaker 1 (32:40):
I've spent a fair amount of time visiting other
arboretums, talking to executivedirectors and CEOs of them and
understanding operationally,strategically and kind of the
build-out process they wentthrough, and a number of our
board members Henry's been to anumber of different arboretums,
(33:01):
as well as Leo and others,suzanne Scott is very
well-versed in nature-basedfacilities and so, yes, we've
taken a number of inspiration,both from a learnings
perspective as well asinspiration.
Number of inspiration, bothfrom a learnings perspective as
well as inspiration.
I will not say and I don't wantto replicate an arboretum right
Now will I take point ideas andinspirations, absolutely right.
(33:22):
But you know, I think one ofthe things Sasaki brings is
again that breadth of experienceand notions that we can use to
say take this input from SanAntonio and distill it in a way
that hey, here's some successinstances of taking input like
this and turning it into a placeor an idea or a program or
(33:43):
things like that.
So a lot of people ask me Tom,are we going to have this, tom,
are you going to do this, are wegoing to have it this way or
that way?
And I oftentimes say I don'tknow, and I purposely want to
say I don't know because I don'twant to unfairly impose what I
think.
I think my job and the board'sjob is the principles, the
(34:08):
values that we bring and thepurpose that we bring, the
instances of what we bring.
We need that input from SanAntonio and that's why this
master planning is such animportant process.
That's why this next nine to 12months that we have in front of
us is so important to getmaximum engagement of people, to
get those ideas out there, suchthat we can define this
(34:30):
together.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
And so maybe it's been layered throughout our
conversation already, but youand the board, what feel like
some success measurements fory'all five, 10 years, 15, 20
years down the line?
Does it feel like it's awell-used space, it's a source
of a spur of economicdevelopment, or something that
(34:52):
that you know bolsters SanAntonio's reputation, or maybe a
myriad of all those factors?
But what are y'all looking at,as you know, what would make
this, this project in thislocation, this space, as
successful?
Speaker 1 (35:06):
down the line.
Many dimensions.
You mentioned a number of themright.
So having people go there andenjoy themselves and learn there
and be inspired or repair thereI mean walking in the woods
it's been very well documentedthat that has both mental and
physical benefits.
There's the economicdevelopment right Rationale for
(35:29):
Brooks investing in theArboretum is we can bring a
great place to this side of town.
It will have benefit beyond itsborders, just like Brooks had as
experienced.
I think.
You know, having a place thatpeople use, that people learn,
that people can go to, that'ssafe.
That's it.
That's we've got to make itsafe and you know they're.
(35:52):
Obviously, at any place thingswill happen, but it depends on
our response and how we dealwith that and how we protect
people and how people feel goingin, feel going in.
One of the principles we haveis this notion of green equity
and that you know, henry, fromthe beginning laid down that
(36:17):
it's going to be free to get in,and so that brings to me, as
kind of the businessman side, Ithink, a real challenge how do
we make this economicallysustainable?
There are examples out there,to your point, of other
arboretums that I've talked towho don't charge a fee to get in
Houston, arboretum being one ofthem.
They monetize themselveselsewhere Parking facilities,
rental concessions, bringing inother folks that are like-minded
(36:41):
, like-defined, to lease space.
So there's our options tomonetize this and having people
use it.
One of the visions we have isto build very big parking lots
and every school day, have alarge number of school buses
there, right when that's adestination for people, for
outdoor education.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Well, and at a timeline in which the community
can begin to see or use a space.
I mean we know if there's newplantings, how long it takes for
a tree to grow and develop.
But you've already mentioned,there's many trees there and
I've been at that space beforegolfing a few years back not
that I'm a golfer and maybe itwas best that place got shut
(37:23):
down, I think I found your ball?
Speaker 1 (37:28):
No, you didn't.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
What are the some of the earliest timetables for when
community members may be ableto see, access or use the space
in any sort of regard, even ifthe project's not in its you
know ultimate manifestation?
Speaker 1 (37:43):
of course.
Yeah, so you know there's onereality is that these places and
other arboretums I've talked toother botanical gardens that
they built it takes a while tobuild out and it takes a fair
amount of money investment to dothat.
And you know we're goingthrough master planning now,
which is going to be done nextspring.
That will define a phase one, aphase two and a phase three and
(38:06):
so forth, and that phase one isgoing to be a pretty big chunk
of both time to design and buildas well as a chunk of money to
design and build.
And so I would expect, you know, three years before phase one
we're cutting any ribbons, three, maybe four years.
(38:31):
But in the meantime we also havecart paths that are very
readily.
We have the ability to invitepeople out for various events or
programming and things likethat.
So we have yet to work throughthat process but I aspire to do
that.
I aspire that to happen verysoon.
But when I don't know, I can'tcommit to.
So it will have very softopenings and we're looking at
(38:51):
how to do that such arboretumbecause that will take that
phase one build out to reallyclaim an arboretum.
But we can begin down that path.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
And are there any specific challenges, like top of
mind for you and the greaterorganization, tom, like things
that y'all think in particularare, I don't know, cautionary
notes or things that you reallyneed to make sure to focus on
and address in the ensuingplanning period and thereafter?
Speaker 1 (39:30):
You know, I think we've taken care of some of that
concern and that is to makesure we build Arboretum San
Antonio that's really SanAntonio based and we're not just
hiring somebody to come in fromsome other place that knows
Arboretum's that's not SanAntonio and build something here
that doesn't reflect us.
So I think our communityengagement is extremely strong
(39:52):
and robust, such that we getthat.
So I think that concern isallied.
I think we have a couple keythings.
One is safety.
We've got to make sure it's asafe place and we don't have all
those solutions that will comeout of our master planning and
they know that's top of my mind,that we've got to address.
(40:12):
Two I'd say is money is how arewe going to fund this?
Right?
We are a 501c3, a nonprofit andso you know we will go and we
are going towards all key areasfederal, state and local grants,
foundations.
We're looking at a corporateengagement, we're looking at
(40:34):
philanthropic, private,philanthropic monies, and so you
know, one of the things I askof the San Antonio and South
Texas community is engage of theSan Antonio and South Texas
community is engage.
Engage in our survey, engage inour focus groups, engage in our
public events, but engagefinancially, because we need
your help to make this happen.
And you know we've got.
The challenge right now is we'vegot to get to a point where we
(41:00):
have earned income to sustainourselves organizationally, and
so we need the help of all ofthose dimensions of fundraising
right now to do that.
I think the other challenge is,as I mentioned to you, I failed
retirement once.
I'm going to try it again, andso our organization has just
launched, with Kittleman andAssociates, a search for a new
(41:22):
CEO for my replacement, and so Ido this with full enthusiasm
and earnestness, in that, youknow, we need that next
generation of leadership and weneed a really high quality,
inspired, passionate person thatcan come in and build this up
to that next level.
Right, we've made greatprogress over these three years,
(41:45):
but we've got a big hill toclimb, especially as we look in
the face of the phase onedefinition out of master
planning and how we fund that,how we build that out, and so
we're looking for that CEO now,so very excited about that.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
And what are the aspirations this time for
retirement, tom?
If any is another leadershipprogram.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Well, I still haven't figured out how to spell
retirement, but that's in thevernacular.
Yes, this is the start of thattree nursery.
That's the pond that has allthe recycled water in it.
It gathers rainwater obviouslytoo, but these are trees that we
planted five-gallon trees,trees that we planted
(42:28):
five-gallon trees.
We planted about 140.
We had obviously some thatdidn't make it due to the
planting process itself.
It's a rough process on a tree.
We've got a fair amount of treesstill doing well and, through a
partnership with thehorticulture department at Palo
Alto College, we have one oftheir students, eric Guerra,
coming out and watering twice aweek, which is really phenomenal
(42:51):
work on his part.
Very appreciative of thatteamwork and we're pulling water
out of the pond to water thesetrees.
We're working right now withthe master planning team and
some engineers to put in place amore permanent watering
solution for these trees, aswell as some other parts of the
property with native andinteresting species, as well as
(43:14):
providing the stock ofnon-commercially available trees
for the city, for residents ofthe city.
(43:36):
Again, this is part of thatinstance of going beyond a place
to an idea of an arboretum andhow we can extend this idea of
an arboretum, beyond the bordersof the arboretum into San
Antonio, so people in the citycan begin to adopt techniques
and processes and philosophiesabout how to revere trees within
(43:59):
the city.
This is the direct relationshipbetween the city saying if
you're going to cut down,developer, if you're going to
cut down a heritage tree, we'regoing to charge you for that and
we're going to use that moneyto put canopy in place elsewhere
(44:21):
.
And this is part of thatinstance where we're trying to
grow trees, we're creating thatfodder for our future canopy.
Now, the heritage tree thatcompany XYZ cut down and paid a
fee for into the tree mitigationfund.
You know the shade comparablefor these trees does not equate,
(44:42):
but eventually it will catch up.
A Greek proverb I love to quotethat's very apropos, for what
the Arboretum is doing is greatsocieties are built by old men
who plant trees under whichshade they shall never sit, and
I think that's appropriate right.
(45:03):
I, being an old man, am tryingto plant trees and I'm probably
not going to enjoy the shadethat these will provide, but our
children, our children'schildren, will, and I think
that's an important principle bywhich we're founding this
Arboretum, which we're buildingthis Arboretum for that
long-term purpose.
(45:24):
This is a long-term effort thatwill cost a lot of money and
we're going to have to invest.
We're building this Arboretumfor that long-term purpose.
This is a long-term effort thatwill cost a lot of money and
we're going to have to invest.
We're going to have to investsweat equity as well as
financial equity, as well aspurpose, and a lot of San
Antonio is very much alignedwith this Arboretum, with the
idea of what an Arboretum is,with the idea of what an
(45:46):
arboretum is, with theexpectation of using an
arboretum.
That's very exciting and we'vegot to follow through on that
and we've got to perseverethrough time and through
challenges financial challenges,operational challenges to make
this happen.
But I'm confident that with ourboard, with our existing
(46:09):
funders, with the county and thecity backing, we'll do that in
spades.
Speaker 2 (46:15):
Whenever you plant a tree, you have an opportunity to
make history.
A live oak planted in theground might stay in that very
same spot for hundreds of years,maybe a thousand.
Looking backward, a tree ofthat character might have
provided shade to the indigenousPayaya people somewhere near
San Pedro Springs or during theBattle of the Alamo in 1836,
(46:38):
protection for either the troopsof the Mexican army or Texian.
Likewise, that tree will bearwitness and offer its nature on
such a timeline, looking forwardConstant change from the
vantage of where it's rooted.
Whenever you plant a tree, youhave an opportunity to create
(47:01):
more life.
Even what we consider our leastdesirable trees in our
landscape serve a fundamentalpurpose of cultivating more,
such as the very prickly andspiny ritamas or wisatch trees,
adapted to grow in the mostdisturbed conditions Out of a
crack in the asphalt, in aparking lot, in the blistering
(47:21):
sun.
Those trees grow fast, provideminimal but essential shade and,
through the process of nitrogenfixation, bring nutrients into
an otherwise lifeless soil belowso that they can create the
conditions for other plants,perhaps less resilient, to
sprout and grow.
Whenever you plant a tree, youhave an opportunity to give back
(47:47):
.
You'll give more comfort andsafety to others around you as
trees battle, heat and cool thesurrounding air through the
process of evapotranspiration,where all plants, not just trees
, release water vapor into theair when exposed to the sun.
As cited by PhD Nadina Gall inher book the Nature of Our
(48:09):
Cities, even young trees have anet cooling effect equivalent to
10 room-size air conditionersoperating for 20 hours a day.
Within 15 years, that effectdoubles.
Years, that effect doubles.
(48:30):
Combine that with the shademature trees provide and a
canopy can reduce temperaturesby almost 20 degrees Fahrenheit
compared to communities with notree canopy cover.
You'll give back greater healthvitality, as microscopic pores
on tree leaves take in gaseousmolecules in the air of many
kinds but, most importantly,toxic pollutants.
San Antonio is a very historiccity.
(48:54):
Likewise so are many of ourtrees.
San Antonio is a lively,generous city, just like our
trees.
San Antonio is a city thatvalues service, I suppose, just
like our trees.
There, they are rooted in oneplace, ready and available to be
(49:15):
wielded for a variety ofpurposes, to contribute back to
our community, their community.
Plant a tree the right tree,their community.
Plant a tree the right tree andyou'll have found a way to add
to the historical timeline ofwhat this city is and eventually
what this city will be.
You'll have found a way to makelife a little easier for the
(49:37):
next generations of birds, beesand seeds.
You'll have found a way to giveback and serve your family and
your community for manygenerations to come, with
greater comfort, safety andstability in mind, body and
spirit.
An arboretum might be a placefor trees, but its purpose might
(50:04):
be to plant a reflection of youand me.
All right y'all.
That's a wrap.
Thank you so much for listeningto or watching this episode of
Ensemble Texas.
I just want to extend a thankyou to my guest today, tom
(50:25):
Courser of Arboretum San Antonio.
To get engaged with theArboretum, please visit
arboretumsaorg to do so.
Specifically, I ask that youparticipate in the survey, the
first of three community surveysthe Arboretum will run to offer
your input on what you hope theArboretum San Antonio will
become.
Likewise at arboretum SanAntonio will become.
(50:48):
Likewise at arboretumsaorg,you'll find links to pop-ups and
upcoming community events whererepresentatives from the
Arboretum will be excited tomeet you and learn more about
what you think is important forcreating a fantastic place for
San Antonio.
All things Arboretum SanAntonio will be linked up in our
show post atpodcastensembletexascom.
Finally, if you enjoyed thisepisode, I think you might
(51:11):
really enjoy my newsletter, theSan Antonio Ensemble, where each
week, I share with you onestory to help you get better
connected to this city and findout where you live.
My mission is to help all of uslearn more about the city we
inhabit to help us build an evenbetter San Antonio now and into
the future.
(51:31):
All right, y'all, until nexttime.
You've got to have a balanced community and that
community has to have that openspace, that green space.
And so we're filling a voidfrom an equity perspective, but
we're also filling a void froman overall San Antonio
perspective, and that we aren'tputting in a second botanical
(00:24):
garden.
We aren't putting in a secondbotanical garden, we aren't
putting in a second hard burgerpark.
They have their purpose, theirplace and we will build a
fantastic place.
We will put in placeprogramming that can complement
that geography, that culture,those people that attend there,
(00:45):
be it visitors or residentsalike.
But one of the fundamentalprinciples that our board has
really resolved to is that wewill make a fantastic place.
The Arboretum San Antonio.
It's the idea of the Arboretumthat we want to bring to San
Antonio.
It's the idea of the Arboretumthat we want to bring to San
(01:07):
Antonio and to back to SouthTexas is.
We want to have ideas that comeout of there, the research that
we might do about what trees togrow, how to grow the native
trees, that we have thecelebration of those trees right
, the history that we can bringto people's backyard, that we
can bring to people's pocketparks, that we can bring to the
city and the county.
We can grow trees in a nurserythat we're going to build.
(01:29):
We can give those trees to thecity, the county and to the
residents of San Antonio, suchthat that arboretum becomes San
Antonio.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Sure, we know San Antonio wouldn't be San Antonio
without its river, but whatabout its trees, from the
majestic live oaks that shelter,shade and support the lives of
many butterflies, birds, mammalsand more, to?
The magnolias lining our riverwalk, under whose dense foliage
many a tourist will enjoy atwo-foot-tall margarita.
(02:02):
Our pecan trees, maybe thetallest growing trees in Texas,
reaching 70 to 100 feet tall,with a sweet edible nut beloved
as one of the most valuablecultivated crops with origins in
North America.
The many hackberries,affectionately called a trash
tree.
That, while short-lived, bearsfruits ravished by a dozen
(02:25):
different species of birds, andthe species of tree that
countless numbers ofcaterpillars call home.
San Antonio, despite anyone'spreconceived notions or dusty,
worn-out images of the Alamo, isa place for trees.
It was announced in fall 2023that a future San Antonio
(02:47):
Arboretum would replace theRepublic Golf Course, a 188-acre
site along the Salado Creek,off Military Drive in southeast
San Antonio.
With that announcement, theorganization behind this project
needed a plan behind thisproject needed a plan, and so
(03:10):
you and I, the rest of SanAntonio, received an invitation,
because the organizationArboretum San Antonio is
committed to not just making aplace for San Antonio, but
making a place that is SanAntonio.
So for us, as San Antonians,this presents an opportunity to
learn, understand, perhapsreimagine what our trees mean to
(03:32):
this city, and so to discusshow we make a place for trees
and place for you and me.
I'm joined by the current CEOof Arboretum San Antonio, tom
Corser.
I'm joined by the current CEOof Arboretum San Antonio, tom
Corser.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Let's break some ground and start first with
Tom's affection for this city, Imarried into San Antonio back
in 1983.
I was going to Texas A&M andmet my wife, Tina, there and we
got married in 83.
But then we quickly went up toWisconsin for more school and
then ended up taking a job withAT&T Bell Labs out in New Jersey
and we spent about 33 years inNew Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
(04:16):
then about eight years ago movedback to San Antonio and so I
brought Tina home and I wasstill working at the time but
then retired from JuniperNetworks, a technology company
out in California.
Just Narrows with this idea ofan arboretum, came along and
(04:42):
tapped me on the shoulder andsaid I got a great thing for you
to do, and so I officiallyfailed at retirement and got
involved in the arboretum in abig way.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Let's talk about the arboretum project, more of an
introduction to it.
Where is it?
Is it going to be located?
What's the status of thatparticular site?
And maybe some initial, just sowe can start to contextualize
in our minds, like what arebroad timelines on this project
of you know, opening days, etc.
Sure we?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
initially, uh, started off on a different site
than where we are now.
Uh, but through uh, someinspection and kind of analysis
of a conservation easement thatthey had on a spotted track
which is now owned by Texas A&Mand San Antonio River Authority,
just beside the TJ Maxxfacility, they could only allow
(05:36):
four acres for an arboretum andthat just wouldn't work.
So we went on kind of a deepdive analysis of different
properties on the south sidewhere we could have an arboretum
and our intention was is tosituate this somewhere on the
south side as an initiative ofsomewhat green space equity
balance.
(05:56):
And we landed one of sixproperties that we analyzed, the
Old Republic Golf Club, whichis just off Southeast Military,
between 37 and 410.
Very accessible, 12 minutesfrom downtown, about a mile and
a half from Brooks, and aperfect spot.
(06:16):
It really is ideal.
It's got the Salado Creek runsthrough it.
It's got four miles of formergolf cart concrete cart paths
that are in pretty good shape.
Some areas need some love butyou know, it's got a lot of
existing trees.
It's got a pond, a recycledwater contract that can keep
(06:39):
that pond full of recycled waterso we can put in that
infrastructure to keep whateverwe need to green without
impacting the edwards aquifer,so a very sustainable story.
We're really excited about thatum and it's.
It's just a a wonderful placewith some vistas and beautiful
heritage trees that 150 to 200year old uh, trees that can
(07:04):
reflect on a lot of the historyof San Antonio we can maybe dive
into that later but just a lotof dimensions on this property
that make it well suited for anarboretum.
It was purchased in two tranches.
One was Brooks, because of theproximity to Brooks, and Leo
Gomez, the CEO of Brooks, is onour board and he was so excited
(07:27):
but he brought this to theirboard of directors for a
consideration strategicallyabout an investment outside of
their 3,100 acre footprint.
Brooks to say let's raise thattide of the whole area
economically right and by Brooksinvesting in this Arboretum
they can have a role in that andit's just been very not just a
(07:51):
financial investment of the landbut the marketing investment
and the synergies that we bringoperational.
The second tranche was and wewere grateful enough to the
county for a grant of $7.3million capital money for three
purposes.
One is to buy additional landthat's out of the floodplain.
(08:13):
So we bought 18 acres additionthat's largely out of the
floodplain, for facilities andthings as well.
It'll pay for master planningand for road and parking lot
infrastructure as we as we planout this arboretum.
Really great to have you here.
This is probably the favoritepart of my job.
Right is to give people toursof the area, but I just wanted
(08:36):
to give you a view of theproperty itself.
Here's southeast military 37sup here.
Brooks is up in this area.
We've got 410 coming down here,so it's a very accessible piece
of land.
Former Republic Golf Club.
We've got neighborhoods on bothsides of us, so an extremely
(08:58):
rich start to our arboretum.
The yellow lines are the cartpaths and it's got about four
miles on this plot of land.
We've got a number of trees onhere, a number of groups of
trees.
We've got a pond.
It's about a seven acre pondfilled with recycled water, so
saws, as they have a watertreatment plant just south of us
(09:19):
.
Here they create recycled wateror purple pipe water that can
be used for irrigating a formergolf course or now an arboretum,
and so we have 300 acre feet,which is a lot of water to keep
this a very verdant place.
So it's not potable I couldn'tdrink it, but the plants can.
(09:39):
We're keeping this green andalive but we're not impacting
the Edwards aquifers.
This property is 188 acres.
We've got the Salado Creekrunning through the property.
The orange lines here are theCity of San Antonio, howard Peak
, greenway Trail, right-of-way,not built yet but soon to be
(10:01):
built and will be our bike trailAgain, that necklace that goes
around the city.
This is going to be built andwill be our bike trail again,
that necklace that goes aroundthe city.
This is going to be a componentof that.
As we dive into this masterplanning and understand, okay,
what are we going to dopurposely with this and what are
the phases going to break up?
It is going to be chunked upinto phases and we'll look at
what we develop, what we keepmore natural and untouched
(10:25):
versus what we develop into theexperience.
This oak tree is one of our kindof revered trees of the area
and it says a lot about our areaand means a lot to all of us at
the Arboretum.
This tree is estimated to be150 to 200 years old and, uh,
(10:51):
you know, it's a great point ofeducation, it's a great point of
celebration of heritage because, you know, you could imagine
telling a story of what thistree has witnessed, right it's.
It's pretty exciting,especially as you you you gather
a story of what this tree haswitnessed, right it's pretty
exciting, especially as yougather a group of students under
a canopy like this and starttelling stories of the trees and
(11:14):
our Native Americans thatsettled here and what they did
with the pecans and what theydid with the mesquite seeds and
how they embrace the shade, howthey interacted with the creek
and utilize the land for farmingand so forth.
So it provides a rich contextfor our heritage and we're very
(11:34):
excited about telling thosestories and gathering those
people to learn those stories.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Tom, I'd love to hear if you could just define what
an arboretum is and why that'sdifferent than some of the other
green spaces that San Antonioalready enjoys.
We have a botanical garden, areally wonderful one at that,
and of course we have many cityparks.
We have natural areas availableto us.
So what's different and specialand unique about an arboretum?
Speaker 1 (12:04):
So arboretum the word arboretum, arbor, tree, retum
is a Latin word for place, placefor trees, and in comparison to
a botanical garden.
Botanical garden, and you'reright, we have a phenomenal
botanical garden here in SanAntonio and it's revered by many
, including myself.
But it is, by nature, bydefinition, a very highly
(12:25):
manicured and beautiful gardenthat you walk through, and it
has trees as well, right?
Whereas I think of it as aspectrum where a botanical
garden is that highly manicuredspace, where, on the other end,
an arboretum is more of a walkin the woods, where it's more of
a nature-based.
Breedom is more of a walk in thewoods, where it's more of a
nature-based, and we will havethose instances of manicured
(12:49):
spots and beautiful places totake those quinceanera pictures
or to propose to yourbride-to-be or groom-to-be, and
there's going to be a mix.
And so where we land on thatspectrum will be defined through
our master planning process,right, In terms of how much
manicured space versus how muchnatural.
(13:10):
But an arboretum really is thatplace where you can look at the
land and see it for the way itwas and the way it can be in the
future, and we will plant trees, we will plant native trees, we
(13:35):
will do research to understandwhat new trees we can bring in
that will sustain us in thefuture right, what trees are
most apt to grow in ourneighborhoods, in the woods
where you can remediate yourselffor your own soul as well as
your community, and bring peopleout to celebrate whatever it is
you want to sell?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
So I'm wondering what is the big why behind the
Arboretum?
Of course, I think you explainit right now and it's something
that people can get excitedabout.
It's like of course San Antonioshould have this, why not?
I mean, it sounds like a reallywonderful, remarkable thing for
us to enjoy.
But what do y'all see as theArboretum's purpose Like?
(14:11):
What is it a response to in SanAntonio?
What is it addressing as maybeboth an opportunity or problems
that exist within the city?
Like what purpose does theArboretum serve, as y'all
forecast it for the city of SanAntonio and the greater area?
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Yeah, I think a big part of that is place.
The place where we're havingthis arboretum is on the
southeast side of town and SanAntonio is seeing enormous
growth right and it's becomemore evenly radial outside of
downtown right.
Our north has seen a lot of thegrowth in our past, but in the
(14:44):
future we're seeing a great dealof infrastructure being
installed in the South,companies locating on the South
side right.
That's going to bring growth tothe South.
And an important part of anycommunity is a balanced
community.
We need to focus on housing,streets, schools, food desert
(15:11):
situations, schools food desertsituations, eat island
situations that we find a lotprevalent in the South and the
West, and those are importantissues to address.
But, once addressed, you've gotto have a balanced community
and that community has to havethat open space, that green
space, and so we're filling avoid from an equity perspective,
(15:35):
but we're also filling a voidfrom an overall San Antonio
perspective in that we aren'tputting in a second botanical
garden, we aren't putting in asecond hard burger park.
They have their purpose, theirplace and their programming and
so forth.
We will build a fantastic place.
(15:55):
We will put in placeprogramming that can complement
that geography, that culture,those people that attend there,
be it visitors or residentsalike.
But one of the fundamentalprinciples that our board has
really resolved to is that wewill make a fantastic place, the
(16:18):
Arboretum San Antonio.
It's the idea of the Arboretumthat we want to bring to San
Antonio and, in fact, to SouthTexas.
We want to have ideas that comeout of there, the research that
we might do about what trees togrow, how to grow the native
trees that we have, thecelebration of those trees right
, the history that we can bringto people's backyard, that we
(16:40):
can bring to people's pocketparks, that we can bring to the
city and the county.
We can grow trees in a nurserythat we're going to build.
We can give those trees to thecity, the county and to the
residents of San Antonio, suchthat that arboretum becomes San
Antonio.
(17:06):
It's nice to have these waterfeatures at an Arboretum and you
know this is a really specialplace because San Antonio's made
up this network of creekwaysand we've got to manage it and
we've had the San Antonio RiverAuthority out here for a hike
and they're very engaged andinterested in helping us manage
(17:30):
this creekway, in helping usmanage this creekway both from a
preservation perspective aswell as a use perspective.
So we want people to understandthe creekways and the dynamics
of the flora and fauna that arein this riparian zone they call
it and also understand theinvasive species problem that we
(17:51):
have and how we can begin tomanage that.
But we've got to make sure thatpeople use it in the right way,
and that's where the RiverAuthority is such experts at.
This is interaction with publicuse of spaces, as well as
making sure public use it in theright way.
And that's very important to usis that we preserve this and
(18:15):
make sure that some of our banksdon't erode and that we do the
right things to repair anydamage that exists or prevent
any further damage.
So it's really important.
One thing that we have on ourlist is to monitor the water
quality both on the Salado Creekas well as in our pond of
recycled water, that we have tounderstand its condition as well
(18:40):
as what possible things wemight do to make sure we
preserve it right, because youknow we want to make sure we
have an environment that fostersthe wildlife right the birds,
the fish and that wholeecosystem that goes with having
a pond.
You know there's still a lot ofquestion about whether we'll
have fishing there or not.
(19:02):
Right, that has to be vettedthrough our master planning
process.
Right, I have an opinion, butthat doesn't count as much as
San Antonio's opinion.
We were out here this yearduring the Bursura Bash and we
took out a whole bunch of tiresand trash and things like that.
So this is considerably cleanerthan it was last year at this
(19:24):
time.
But given the recent rains thatwe've had and the flooding
that's incurred, there's verylittle trash here.
So I'm very pleased with thethe lack of uh uh, gathering of
just minor trash and thingsalong the creek.
So that's, that's a goodpositive, but, like all of our
creek ways, we do suffer fromthat.
(19:44):
We'll have a big volunteerforce eventually that will come
out and maintain this andamazing interest in San Antonio
to volunteer out here to peopleto come out and participate in
this.
(20:07):
We've got a couple big things todo right now.
We've got master planning,which is underway.
Great team, we're making greatprogress, so that's kind of on
its way.
We've got to do development,which is important because we've
got to have operational funding.
We've got to have funding forwhatever master planning
(20:29):
produces.
In terms of phase one, it'sgoing to be a fairly steep
dollar cost to do that.
And three is we we've got tofind, uh, that next generation
of ceo to, to, to replace me asI retire.
So, um, one of the things I getreal excited about from a
development perspective is whatwe could do here on the property
(20:53):
to attract people, to kind ofhelp them with their vision
right.
What could we do?
That would be indicative ofwhat you could do in an
arboretum.
This spot here is perfect.
I'm trying to get our landscapeto mow this regularly and begin
to get grass to grow.
I want to get some of ourrecycled water out in this area
(21:15):
and make a hilly knoll or almostan amphitheater, put a stage
down there and have some events,because I think this would be a
perfect place under the stars,under the moonlight, to have a
concert.
I just get very excited aboutthat.
Have a concert I just get veryexcited about that.
(21:38):
We are fortunate to be with allthe great springs that we have
and the San Antonio River and we, through history, we've
utilized that and it's reflectedin our greenery and the state
of the city and that's somethingthat we want to celebrate
through this arboretum is toshow that history.
Again, we have heritage treesthat have been here 200 years,
and so that's a huge educationalvehicle for us to celebrate our
(22:00):
heritage, of reflecting back onour Native American brethren,
our Spanish brethren, of ourMexican brethren, who've come
here and utilize the land, thewater and the trees to sustain
themselves, and I think it's avery exciting prospect of that
celebration.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I agree and I'm curious, tom, perhaps while
having been someone with anaffinity for nature and trees
what has been in your threeyears at this leadership
position for the Arboretum, whathave been some major learnings
or new understandings thatyou've come to about that living
(22:41):
heritage of San Antonio thatyou personally feel most excited
for people to share in, withthe outcomes of?
Speaker 1 (22:50):
the Arboretum, with the outcomes of the Arboretum.
You know there's a number ofthings.
I've been on a huge learningcurve right and I've surrounded
myself, obviously, with ourboard of directors and board of
advisors, who are very rich in alot of different areas, be it
civil engineering, be itarborists, be it professors at
Trinity and Texas A&M, sanAntonio, or representatives from
(23:12):
SARA, sawss and CPS that aremore nature and sustainability
based, and so I've surroundedmyself with those people and
learned a lot.
So I've come up a huge learningcurve in terms of what the area
means and what trees mean toSan Antonio and how we can help
mitigate some of the heatislands with the shade, how we
(23:32):
can help San Antonio and how wecan help mitigate some of the
heat islands with the shade, howwe can help by the green
infrastructure, as Suzanne Scottlikes to call it right, how
that helps embody the mitigationof the flooding that we have
right, and how it can treat oursoils and so forth.
I was at the Arboretum the otherday with a group of arborists
and environmentalists and wewere talking about what kind of
(23:55):
things we could do near term,before master planning is done,
to improve the site.
And we were standing at thisbeautiful vista, where you
looked out over this expansivearea, and off to the side was
this what they call a snag tree,which is a dead tree that was
still standing and it had, youknow, all sorts of vines and it
(24:16):
just, you know, disrupted theview of these other beautiful
live trees.
And I pointed to it and said Iwonder if we could take that
down because it kind of disruptsthat.
And boy, I was taken to task.
I was went to school and theysaid no, tom, that's exactly
what an arboretum is is to showthat and to highlight that and
make that a learning lesson forpeople is that's an ecosystem
(24:38):
for nature, right, birds nest inthere, bugs nest in there,
animals live in there, right,and they make their home there
and that's part of thatecosystem.
That's what an arboretum is,right.
And again, that spectrum Italked about a botanical garden
in an arboretum.
A botanical garden might beinclined to take that down right
(24:58):
away, just because it isn'tthat manicured spot, but we've
got to take that as a lesson, asa learning point, right, it was
for me, as will be for ourfuture visitors there.
So I think that was just agreat example of the kind of
things that I've learned throughthis and you know, I'm again
fortunate to be surrounded bysuch great people to do that.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
The metaphors are aplenty, with the life cycle of
a tree still on surface afterit's life and home to many.
Tom, you've mentioned thismaster planning phase that y'all
are in right now.
Can you describe more of whatthat is, what the timelines on
the master plan and the resultsmight be from that?
(25:39):
Like what could we expect ascommunity members?
Speaker 1 (25:41):
So once we acquired the land last year and actually
closed on it, that was the nextlogical step, because now we're
left with 188 acres that's beenfallow for four years.
Great Start has trees, has acreek, has a cart pass, has a
right-of-way for the bike trailsto go through it, so it's a lot
of great bones, but they'rebones right.
(26:03):
So we had to initiate a masterplanning.
We went through a very formalprocess of selection and went
from 18 high quality responsesto a request for qualifications
down to three and we did an RFPrequest for proposals and we
formed a committee off of ourboard and board of advisors to
(26:24):
decide on who to select.
We selected Sasaki, anextremely deep company that has
a lot of experience in publicgardens and doing the master
plan as well as the followthrough.
So we've been about threemonths under our wing now with
them and we've already completedphase one of that effort of
(26:45):
baselining our land, our water,the flora and fauna and the
community.
And we're going to have a.
We've had a couple of pop-upevents already with their
engagement.
We're asking all of San Antonioto come and voice and tell us
what they'd like to see, tell uswhat their vision is for an
arboretum Learn about what anarboretum is as well as inspire
(27:09):
us about what they would like tosee.
But the master planning processis about a 12-month process
that we're going through.
It involves Sasaki, with a lotof deep resources there, but it
also engages a number of firmsin San Antonio and that's, I
think, a really big component ofthe team that we put together
(27:30):
to do this master planning.
It's not just people fromoutside San Antonio.
It has a lot of bones orintelligence and culture and
experience of San Antonio,people who know the flora and
fauna, people who know the land,people who know the stories,
people who know the community.
The master planning has four keydeliverables.
One is a strategic plan.
(27:52):
We've been through strategicplanning before, but we're
renewing that.
Right.
We've learned a lot in thosethese three years that we've
been together and and so we'retrying to reflect that and
redoing that strategic plan justto kind of make sure we're
we're solid about who we are,why we are, mission, vision,
values.
And then second component isthe the site plan.
(28:13):
What are we going to do with188 acres?
That's a lot of land and thatwill take time.
It'll take a fair investment tomake happen.
Third component is theoperations plan.
Right now we don't have anoperating arboretum, so we've
got to understand the businessmodel, understand the
programming model, the staffingover time, how we're going to do
(28:35):
the fundraising, coincidentwith the phases that we describe
in the site plan.
And the fourth and this issomething Sasaki was adamant
about bringing in is thiscommunity engagement.
We've got a very strong teamthat's engaging the community to
understand what we do with thisland and to help advise us
about what directions we take onspecifics on programming,
(28:56):
specifics on features of theland, things they'd like to do
there.
We've got a survey that's onour website that I urge
everybody to take and provideyour voice into that.
You've got a couple focusgroups that we've got subject
matter experts coming togetherto kind of again advise us on
those directions.
There's a big tradition in SanAntonio of Easter picnics.
(29:20):
Right, we'd love to be thatdestination, but we've got to do
that and have places for thatand appropriate accommodations,
and so all those things need togo into that mix about who San
Antonio is.
All those things need to gointo that mix about who San
Antonio is, and that's why it'sso important that A we have a
(29:41):
team on the master planning teamthat knows San Antonio.
That can continue to representthat as we go through this
process.
But more importantly is thevoice of San Antonio through the
pop-up events, through thecommunity events, through the
survey, through the focus groups.
We need to hear in volume thosevoices such that we represent
all those needs in the Arboretum.
Well, this is part of theHoward Peak Greenway Trails and
(30:09):
it right now is connected to theSalado Creek Greenway Trail
which goes up to Southside Lions, past the AT&T Center and up to
, you know, hardburger Park.
They just built this.
I don't know where they standwith respect to the ribbon
cutting, but it's in great shape.
They did a fantastic job thecity did with this and we're
(30:32):
very excited to have this as ourneighbor.
But they've done nice,responsible things like
semi-permeable parking spaces,they've got restrooms, they've
got art, they've got mapping,safety things, maintenance for
(30:53):
bikes, things like that.
So they do it right and it'sone of the assets of our city
that we're happy, as anarboretum, to play into right,
to have the greenway trails onthe property.
It's a very exciting time.
We've had a lot of discussionsabout do we actively work to
(31:15):
restore it to what it was, whichis almost a false positive in
the sense that you can't reallydo that.
We are where we are and theidea is to to embrace the, the
native plants and any researchthat we might do about future
plantings, but how we couldevolve this to be.
(31:38):
Hey, here's what this landlooks like today and what it
evolves to right.
We will manage our invasivespecies, we will manage invasive
grasses and put in things thatare more sustainable and native.
But it's important for peopleto here in the city of san
(31:58):
antonio, to have a place to lookat here's what that land looked
like and to to invite ourmexican brethren, our native
american brethren, to come inand tell stories of the land
that has been passed down theirgenerations, to impart on me, on
your children and theirchildren's children, about how
(32:20):
this land was utilized and thehistory that came out of it.
I think that's an extremelyrich component of this arboretum
.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Are there particular locations or sites or arboretums
gardens that we are takinginspiration from?
Speaker 1 (32:40):
I've spent a fair amount of time visiting other
arboretums, talking to executivedirectors and CEOs of them and
understanding operationally,strategically and kind of the
build-out process they wentthrough, and a number of our
board members Henry's been to anumber of different arboretums,
(33:01):
as well as Leo and others,suzanne Scott is very
well-versed in nature-basedfacilities and so, yes, we've
taken a number of inspiration,both from a learnings
perspective as well asinspiration.
Number of inspiration, bothfrom a learnings perspective as
well as inspiration.
I will not say and I don't wantto replicate an arboretum right
Now will I take point ideas andinspirations, absolutely right.
(33:22):
But you know, I think one ofthe things Sasaki brings is
again that breadth of experienceand notions that we can use to
say take this input from SanAntonio and distill it in a way
that hey, here's some successinstances of taking input like
this and turning it into a placeor an idea or a program or
(33:43):
things like that.
So a lot of people ask me Tom,are we going to have this, tom,
are you going to do this, are wegoing to have it this way or
that way?
And I oftentimes say I don'tknow, and I purposely want to
say I don't know because I don'twant to unfairly impose what I
think.
I think my job and the board'sjob is the principles, the
(34:08):
values that we bring and thepurpose that we bring, the
instances of what we bring.
We need that input from SanAntonio and that's why this
master planning is such animportant process.
That's why this next nine to 12months that we have in front of
us is so important to getmaximum engagement of people, to
get those ideas out there, suchthat we can define this
(34:30):
together.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
And so maybe it's been layered throughout our
conversation already, but youand the board, what feel like
some success measurements fory'all five, 10 years, 15, 20
years down the line?
Does it feel like it's awell-used space, it's a source
of a spur of economicdevelopment, or something that
(34:52):
that you know bolsters SanAntonio's reputation, or maybe a
myriad of all those factors?
But what are y'all looking at,as you know, what would make
this, this project in thislocation, this space, as
successful?
Speaker 1 (35:06):
down the line.
Many dimensions.
You mentioned a number of themright.
So having people go there andenjoy themselves and learn there
and be inspired or repair thereI mean walking in the woods
it's been very well documentedthat that has both mental and
physical benefits.
There's the economicdevelopment right Rationale for
(35:29):
Brooks investing in theArboretum is we can bring a
great place to this side of town.
It will have benefit beyond itsborders, just like Brooks had as
experienced.
I think.
You know, having a place thatpeople use, that people learn,
that people can go to, that'ssafe.
That's it.
That's we've got to make itsafe and you know they're.
(35:52):
Obviously, at any place thingswill happen, but it depends on
our response and how we dealwith that and how we protect
people and how people feel goingin, feel going in.
One of the principles we haveis this notion of green equity
and that you know, henry, fromthe beginning laid down that
(36:17):
it's going to be free to get in,and so that brings to me, as
kind of the businessman side, Ithink, a real challenge how do
we make this economicallysustainable?
There are examples out there,to your point, of other
arboretums that I've talked towho don't charge a fee to get in
Houston, arboretum being one ofthem.
They monetize themselveselsewhere Parking facilities,
rental concessions, bringing inother folks that are like-minded
(36:41):
, like-defined, to lease space.
So there's our options tomonetize this and having people
use it.
One of the visions we have isto build very big parking lots
and every school day, have alarge number of school buses
there, right when that's adestination for people, for
outdoor education.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
Well, and at a timeline in which the community
can begin to see or use a space.
I mean we know if there's newplantings, how long it takes for
a tree to grow and develop.
But you've already mentioned,there's many trees there and
I've been at that space beforegolfing a few years back not
that I'm a golfer and maybe itwas best that place got shut
(37:23):
down, I think I found your ball?
Speaker 1 (37:28):
No, you didn't.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
What are the some of the earliest timetables for when
community members may be ableto see, access or use the space
in any sort of regard, even ifthe project's not in its you
know ultimate manifestation?
Speaker 1 (37:43):
of course.
Yeah, so you know there's onereality is that these places and
other arboretums I've talked toother botanical gardens that
they built it takes a while tobuild out and it takes a fair
amount of money investment to dothat.
And you know we're goingthrough master planning now,
which is going to be done nextspring.
That will define a phase one, aphase two and a phase three and
(38:06):
so forth, and that phase one isgoing to be a pretty big chunk
of both time to design and buildas well as a chunk of money to
design and build.
And so I would expect, you know, three years before phase one
we're cutting any ribbons, three, maybe four years.
(38:31):
But in the meantime we also havecart paths that are very
readily.
We have the ability to invitepeople out for various events or
programming and things likethat.
So we have yet to work throughthat process but I aspire to do
that.
I aspire that to happen verysoon.
But when I don't know, I can'tcommit to.
So it will have very softopenings and we're looking at
(38:51):
how to do that such arboretumbecause that will take that
phase one build out to reallyclaim an arboretum.
But we can begin down that path.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
And are there any specific challenges, like top of
mind for you and the greaterorganization, tom, like things
that y'all think in particularare, I don't know, cautionary
notes or things that you reallyneed to make sure to focus on
and address in the ensuingplanning period and thereafter?
Speaker 1 (39:30):
You know, I think we've taken care of some of that
concern and that is to makesure we build Arboretum San
Antonio that's really SanAntonio based and we're not just
hiring somebody to come in fromsome other place that knows
Arboretum's that's not SanAntonio and build something here
that doesn't reflect us.
So I think our communityengagement is extremely strong
(39:52):
and robust, such that we getthat.
So I think that concern isallied.
I think we have a couple keythings.
One is safety.
We've got to make sure it's asafe place and we don't have all
those solutions that will comeout of our master planning and
they know that's top of my mind,that we've got to address.
(40:12):
Two I'd say is money is how arewe going to fund this?
Right?
We are a 501c3, a nonprofit andso you know we will go and we
are going towards all key areasfederal, state and local grants,
foundations.
We're looking at a corporateengagement, we're looking at
(40:34):
philanthropic, private,philanthropic monies, and so you
know, one of the things I askof the San Antonio and South
Texas community is engage of theSan Antonio and South Texas
community is engage.
Engage in our survey, engage inour focus groups, engage in our
public events, but engagefinancially, because we need
your help to make this happen.
And you know we've got.
The challenge right now is we'vegot to get to a point where we
(41:00):
have earned income to sustainourselves organizationally, and
so we need the help of all ofthose dimensions of fundraising
right now to do that.
I think the other challenge is,as I mentioned to you, I failed
retirement once.
I'm going to try it again, andso our organization has just
launched, with Kittleman andAssociates, a search for a new
(41:22):
CEO for my replacement, and so Ido this with full enthusiasm
and earnestness, in that, youknow, we need that next
generation of leadership and weneed a really high quality,
inspired, passionate person thatcan come in and build this up
to that next level.
Right, we've made greatprogress over these three years,
(41:45):
but we've got a big hill toclimb, especially as we look in
the face of the phase onedefinition out of master
planning and how we fund that,how we build that out, and so
we're looking for that CEO now,so very excited about that.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
And what are the aspirations this time for
retirement, tom?
If any is another leadershipprogram.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Well, I still haven't figured out how to spell
retirement, but that's in thevernacular.
Yes, this is the start of thattree nursery.
That's the pond that has allthe recycled water in it.
It gathers rainwater obviouslytoo, but these are trees that we
planted five-gallon trees,trees that we planted
(42:28):
five-gallon trees.
We planted about 140.
We had obviously some thatdidn't make it due to the
planting process itself.
It's a rough process on a tree.
We've got a fair amount of treesstill doing well and, through a
partnership with thehorticulture department at Palo
Alto College, we have one oftheir students, eric Guerra,
coming out and watering twice aweek, which is really phenomenal
(42:51):
work on his part.
Very appreciative of thatteamwork and we're pulling water
out of the pond to water thesetrees.
We're working right now withthe master planning team and
some engineers to put in place amore permanent watering
solution for these trees, aswell as some other parts of the
property with native andinteresting species, as well as
(43:14):
providing the stock ofnon-commercially available trees
for the city, for residents ofthe city.
(43:36):
Again, this is part of thatinstance of going beyond a place
to an idea of an arboretum andhow we can extend this idea of
an arboretum, beyond the bordersof the arboretum into San
Antonio, so people in the citycan begin to adopt techniques
and processes and philosophiesabout how to revere trees within
(43:59):
the city.
This is the direct relationshipbetween the city saying if
you're going to cut down,developer, if you're going to
cut down a heritage tree, we'regoing to charge you for that and
we're going to use that moneyto put canopy in place elsewhere
(44:21):
.
And this is part of thatinstance where we're trying to
grow trees, we're creating thatfodder for our future canopy.
Now, the heritage tree thatcompany XYZ cut down and paid a
fee for into the tree mitigationfund.
You know the shade comparablefor these trees does not equate,
(44:42):
but eventually it will catch up.
A Greek proverb I love to quotethat's very apropos, for what
the Arboretum is doing is greatsocieties are built by old men
who plant trees under whichshade they shall never sit, and
I think that's appropriate right.
(45:03):
I, being an old man, am tryingto plant trees and I'm probably
not going to enjoy the shadethat these will provide, but our
children, our children'schildren, will, and I think
that's an important principle bywhich we're founding this
Arboretum, which we're buildingthis Arboretum for that
long-term purpose.
(45:24):
This is a long-term effort thatwill cost a lot of money and
we're going to have to invest.
We're building this Arboretumfor that long-term purpose.
This is a long-term effort thatwill cost a lot of money and
we're going to have to invest.
We're going to have to investsweat equity as well as
financial equity, as well aspurpose, and a lot of San
Antonio is very much alignedwith this Arboretum, with the
idea of what an Arboretum is,with the idea of what an
(45:46):
arboretum is, with theexpectation of using an
arboretum.
That's very exciting and we'vegot to follow through on that
and we've got to perseverethrough time and through
challenges financial challenges,operational challenges to make
this happen.
But I'm confident that with ourboard, with our existing
(46:09):
funders, with the county and thecity backing, we'll do that in
spades.
Speaker 2 (46:15):
Whenever you plant a tree, you have an opportunity to
make history.
A live oak planted in theground might stay in that very
same spot for hundreds of years,maybe a thousand.
Looking backward, a tree ofthat character might have
provided shade to the indigenousPayaya people somewhere near
San Pedro Springs or during theBattle of the Alamo in 1836,
(46:38):
protection for either the troopsof the Mexican army or Texian.
Likewise, that tree will bearwitness and offer its nature on
such a timeline, looking forwardConstant change from the
vantage of where it's rooted.
Whenever you plant a tree, youhave an opportunity to create
(47:01):
more life.
Even what we consider our leastdesirable trees in our
landscape serve a fundamentalpurpose of cultivating more,
such as the very prickly andspiny ritamas or wisatch trees,
adapted to grow in the mostdisturbed conditions Out of a
crack in the asphalt, in aparking lot, in the blistering
(47:21):
sun.
Those trees grow fast, provideminimal but essential shade and,
through the process of nitrogenfixation, bring nutrients into
an otherwise lifeless soil belowso that they can create the
conditions for other plants,perhaps less resilient, to
sprout and grow.
Whenever you plant a tree, youhave an opportunity to give back
(47:47):
.
You'll give more comfort andsafety to others around you as
trees battle, heat and cool thesurrounding air through the
process of evapotranspiration,where all plants, not just trees
, release water vapor into theair when exposed to the sun.
As cited by PhD Nadina Gall inher book the Nature of Our
(48:09):
Cities, even young trees have anet cooling effect equivalent to
10 room-size air conditionersoperating for 20 hours a day.
Within 15 years, that effectdoubles.
Years, that effect doubles.
(48:30):
Combine that with the shademature trees provide and a
canopy can reduce temperaturesby almost 20 degrees Fahrenheit
compared to communities with notree canopy cover.
You'll give back greater healthvitality, as microscopic pores
on tree leaves take in gaseousmolecules in the air of many
kinds but, most importantly,toxic pollutants.
San Antonio is a very historiccity.
(48:54):
Likewise so are many of ourtrees.
San Antonio is a lively,generous city, just like our
trees.
San Antonio is a city thatvalues service, I suppose, just
like our trees.
There, they are rooted in oneplace, ready and available to be
(49:15):
wielded for a variety ofpurposes, to contribute back to
our community, their community.
Plant a tree the right tree,their community.
Plant a tree the right tree andyou'll have found a way to add
to the historical timeline ofwhat this city is and eventually
what this city will be.
You'll have found a way to makelife a little easier for the
(49:37):
next generations of birds, beesand seeds.
You'll have found a way to giveback and serve your family and
your community for manygenerations to come, with
greater comfort, safety andstability in mind, body and
spirit.
An arboretum might be a placefor trees, but its purpose might
(50:04):
be to plant a reflection of youand me.
All right y'all.
That's a wrap.
Thank you so much for listeningto or watching this episode of
Ensemble Texas.
I just want to extend a thankyou to my guest today, tom
(50:25):
Courser of Arboretum San Antonio.
To get engaged with theArboretum, please visit
arboretumsaorg to do so.
Specifically, I ask that youparticipate in the survey, the
first of three community surveysthe Arboretum will run to offer
your input on what you hope theArboretum San Antonio will
become.
Likewise at arboretum SanAntonio will become.
(50:48):
Likewise at arboretumsaorg,you'll find links to pop-ups and
upcoming community events whererepresentatives from the
Arboretum will be excited tomeet you and learn more about
what you think is important forcreating a fantastic place for
San Antonio.
All things Arboretum SanAntonio will be linked up in our
show post atpodcastensembletexascom.
Finally, if you enjoyed thisepisode, I think you might
(51:11):
really enjoy my newsletter, theSan Antonio Ensemble, where each
week, I share with you onestory to help you get better
connected to this city and findout where you live.
My mission is to help all of uslearn more about the city we
inhabit to help us build an evenbetter San Antonio now and into
the future.
(51:31):
All right, y'all, until nexttime.
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