Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 6/28/01
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple   12

Editors: Photo accompanies release
FORESTRY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM NURTURES SOUTHEASTERN TREES
     HAMMOND -- There are more than 2,000 trees of 53 species on Southeastern Louisiana
University's campus and, collectively, they're in good health.
     Despite the toll that two years of drought have taken on Louisiana landscaping in general,
"Our trees are above average in wellness," Horticulture Services Director Sid Guedry said, with
satisfaction.
     Guedry knows the vital statistics of Southeastern's 2,059 trees thanks to the
approximately 20 horticulture majors who took his class on nursery management last spring.
Dividing the campus into zones, the students identified and measured every tree and gave each a
"wellness rating" ranging from "5" for excellent to "1" for poor. 
     On that 5-1 scale, the average wellness of the 2,059 trees was four, with only six trees  
five River Birch and one Catalpha   rating lower than three, Guedry said.
     The tree survey is just one facet of Southeastern's overall urban forestry management
program. Guedry said the program of tree planting, care and culture is shaped by a number of
factors, including landscape changes prompted by the on-going campus building boom, a "to-do"
list of pruning and removals drawn up several years ago by state forester Paul Orr, and guidance
mapped out in the university's award-winning master plan.
     Three major construction projects   the North Oak Street classroom building, the Student
Activity Center, and the War Memorial Student Union expansion   have recently been completed
and two more   the Biology Building annex and Cate Teacher Education Center addition   will
soon jump from drawing board to reality. In addition, the university also recently broke ground
on North Campus for a new soccer field and constructed a new landscaped sign next to the 
University Center on University Ave.
     Guedry said more than 100 trees, representing 25 species, have been planted over the last
two and a half years. To nurture existing trees, Horticulture Services has contracted with a
company for deep root fertilization, and, with its own personnel, has aerated around trees to give
them beneficial oxygen and has pruned and removed dead species. 
     Two of the campus's venerable live oaks, "Friendship Oak," the campus' landmark, and
the "Bogue Falaya Oak," located near Tinsley Hall, have been equipped with protective
lightening rods. The trees are among 19 live oaks that pre-date the university itself, being more
than 100 years old. All are named and listed with the Live Oak Society. 
     Guedry said funding for tree initiatives comes from sources such as the Student
Government Association, Horticulture Services own budget, and a $2,500 United States
Department of Agriculture grant, which the university matched. 
     Through the USDA grant, many campus trees are now being labeled by small in-ground
plaques to create a "walking arboretum" throughout the campus.
     Guedry said the horticulture students' survey showed that 89 percent of the campus' trees
are either loblolly pine (59 percent) or oaks (30 percent). There are 1,203 loblolly pines and ten
different species of oak, including 154 live oaks, 127 diamond leaf oaks and 118 water oaks. 
     The campus' tallest tree is a 120-foot loblolly pine, while a 70-inch in diameter live oak
boasts the widest girth. Just as pines are plentiful, fruit trees are comparatively scarce. The
survey lists 27 pecan trees, three persimmons and one lone satsuma. 
                             -SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsm01.htm