Freeze Hurting El Paso Palms

An El Paso environmentalist is recommending that palm trees be removed from the city's approved tree list after a February freeze has damaged many of these trees in the city.

February freeze is apparently killing palm trees in El Paso, Texas, prompting a local environmentalist to call for their removal from the city's approved tree list.

Jim Tolbert, an environmentalist who sits on the city's Parks Advisory Board and chairs the tree committee, believes taking palms off the list would discourage their use in commercial landscaping.

The board makes recommendations on trees the city uses and should not use for its projects - but not very often. However, with palm trees - some of which are huge and drooping after last month's deep freeze - Tolbert intends to propose that the parks board consider taking all five species of palm trees off the city's approved list when it meets later this month.

''They're not native to El Paso, and if they start coming down, it could be dangerous for homeowners, buildings and people,'' he said. ''We should take down the dead palm trees and plant real shade trees.''

Tolbert added, ''For one thing, they're not real trees. They're more related to Bermuda grass than trees. They're just a big spring grass.''

The broad trunks of large palms can weigh a ton per foot, and they are extremely difficult to remove because they are so sinewy that chain saws and axes are difficult to use on them.