Opelousas Tree Board
The Opelousas Tree Board (OTB) is responsible for beautifying Opelousas by promoting and encouraging the responsible planting and maintenance of trees. The OTB is charged to study, investigate, counsel, develop, update and administer a plan for the care, preservation, pruning, planting, replanting, removal, or disposition of trees and shrubs in parks, along streets and in all other public areas. The Tree Board shall also consider, investigate, make findings of fact and act upon any special matter or question coming within the scope of its duties from both public and private entities. The OTB encourages new tree plantings and maintenance around homes to help both the landowners and the community as a whole. Further, the Opelousas Tree Board is a local resource of information for Opelousas’ citizens with the goal of creating a healthy urban forest.
Tree Benefits
The benefits of trees are many:
- Trees give off oxygen that we need to breathe.
- Trees reduce the amount of storm water runoff, which reduces erosion and pollution in our waterways and may reduce the effects of flooding.
- Many species of wildlife depend on trees for habitat.
- Trees provide food, protection, and homes for many birds and mammals.
- Trees can improve air quality and noise pollution, making communities healthier places to live, work, and play.
- Trees help cool the planet by sucking in and storing harmful greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, into their trunks, branches, and leaves. In cities, trees can reduce overall temperature by up to ten degrees Fahrenheit.
For more information, visit Healthy Trees, Healthy Lives, and the Louisiana Live Oak Society.
Board Members
Greg Brandl
John N. Harper
Bradford Jackson
Sissy Jackson
Jonathan Sebastien
Mayor Julius Alsandor, Ex-Officio
The Tree Board has consists of five (5) members that are appointed and serve at the pleasure of the mayor.
