Does President Trump really need to cut down Andrew Jackson's magnolia tree? Expert weighs in
A historic tree at the White House will meet the end of its lifespan soon – but an expert says that's not necessarily a bad thing.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced that he plans to chop down a southern magnolia purportedly planted by former President Andrew Jackson. The Republican wrote that he was working with "the wonderful people at the National Park Service" to make "tremendous enhancements to the White House, thereby preserving and protecting History!"
"One of the interesting dilemmas is a tree planted many years ago by the Legendary President and General, Andrew Jackson," Trump explained. "It is a Southern Magnolia, that came from his home, The Hermitage, in Tennessee. That's the good news!"
"The bad news is that everything must come to an end, and this tree is in terrible condition, a very dangerous safety hazard, at the White House Entrance, no less, and must now be removed," he continued.
Legend states that Jackson, who served as president from 1829 to 1837, reportedly planted two magnolia trees at the White House to honor his late wife Rachel. But it is not clear if the trees were definitely planted by Old Hickory, and the National Park Service's (NPS) website states that they date back to the 1860s at the latest.
Regardless, the tree is still considered historic, and Trump promised that the magnolia's wood will be "preserved by the White House Staff, and may be used for other high and noble purposes."
Speaking to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, consulting arborist Denice Britton explained that the tree "could very likely be potentially dangerous."
"Just from looking at a photograph, I can see that the tree is thin, meaning that there were lots of branches that didn't have foliage on it," she observed. "So that's a sign that it wasn't as vigorous as the trees around it."
Britton, who has worked as an arborist for over four decades, professionally consults clients on matters ranging from tree appraisal and tree management to risk assessment. A risk assessment is when an arborist inspects a tree for heavy wood, disease or any other type of risk.
"As long as one of the [White House's] tree service's arborists has performed a risk evaluation on it, and declared it high risk, the tree should be taken down," she added. "The arborists who take care of the trees at the White House are highly qualified."
Having spent her career in California, Britton said that she's worked with a few southern magnolias before, particularly one in Napa.
"The southern magnolia is a fairly common tree that's planted pretty much all over the country… it is similar to cherry trees," Britton said. "It is a hardwood, but it's considered a 'soft' hardwood in that it's got straight grain. It's valued by woodworkers."
"Because so many of the original old growth trees have been removed over the years, [the Jackson magnolia] is not a particularly old tree for a magnolia."
Britton also noted that environmentalists who oppose the tree's felling would be remiss to ignore that repurposing wood helps save carbon.
"If you burn it, you release that carbon back to the atmosphere," she explained. "If you cut it up and put it into a structure, then you're actually saving it… so you're prolonging the life of the carbon that's in the tree."
The expert also expressed contentment over seeing how well the trees have been taken care of.
"I'm sure that [Trump] spoke to an expert with the NPS or the tree service that takes care of the trees and was reiterating what he was told," Britton said. "It's just nice to see trees talked about positively… they have always been revered as part of our culture. And I'm so glad to see them revered and cared for like they do in Washington."
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