Rooted Together: The Giving Trees of Lynn Haven

After Hurricane Michael, the landscape of Lynn Haven changed almost overnight. Trees that had stood for generations were lost, and with them, a quiet but defining part of the community.

In this episode of Haven444, we explore what it means to rebuild—not just structures, but identity—through the story of the city’s tree canopy.

From the science of how trees shape our environment, to the simple act of planting one in your own yard, this is a story of resilience, memory, and growth.

You’ll hear from a local arborist, Randy Wright and Ty Farris, the city’s Parks and Grounds Director about the effort to restore what was lost, including the distribution of more than 1,000 trees to residents across Lynn Haven.

We also reflect on how trees can become symbols of remembrance, marking both loss and hope for the future.

Because what we plant today will one day offer shade, comfort, and meaning to future generations.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

There are some things in a city you don't notice until they're gone. The shade that falls across the front yard in the afternoon, the canopy that lines a familiar street, the quiet presence of trees that have been there longer than we can remember. In Lynhaven, those trees were more than part of the landscape. They were part of the identity of this place. Over 20,000 people call home. In October of 2018, Hurricane Michael changed everything. In a matter of hours, the skyline shifted, trees that had stood for decades were gone. Neighborhoods looked different. The light felt different. Even the air felt different. What had once been shaded streets and layered green canopy became open sky. In the days and weeks that followed, the loss was everywhere, not just in what we could see, but in what we felt. Because trees do something quietly powerful. They root us in place. They hold us to memory. They mark time. In this episode of Haven 444, we look at what it means to lose something so woven into the fabric of a community. And what it means to begin again. From the science of rebuilding a canopy to the simple act of planting a tree in your own yard. This is a story of resilience. And a story of how a community grows back not all at once, but one little kindness at a time and one tree at a time. Haven 444 had the pleasure of sitting down with Randy Wright, owner of Gulf Coast Tree Specialist in Lynnhaven, who is an ISA certified arborist and has been for the last 25 years. He had firsthand knowledge. He was here and he saw the damage and destruction that it caused to the city. And he also understands how the loss of our canopy has affected our stormwater issues.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

The estimates for the Bay County and the 11 counties around it were 70 to 80 percent of the canopy. Lynn Haven was hit exceptionally hard with the waterways, the water that exposes the shoreline. So all the big pine trees come down. So Lynn Haven was hit extremely hard. Lynn Haven was probably one of the worst hit areas. When you take trees out of a landscape, whether it's an urban landscape or the woods, the average tree sucks up 10 gallons per inch. So you have a tree the size of a 55-gallon drum, so 10 gallons per inch per week. And it can be more depending on the species. Different species drink more. So with those trees missing, initially it impacts the groundwater, doesn't soak in and transpirate up into the air. So it puddles and goes to the streets and gutters and to the bay. So initially.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

And you realize after the fact, you're not just missing a canopy, you're missing an ecosystem. You're missing everything that was working together to keep things in balance. And when the storm came, the balance was thrown off. And this many years later, we're still recovering. We're still figuring it out. We're planting trees. We were also able to visit with our parks and crowns director, Ty Ferris, who understands trees and the importance of replanting them into the community.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Since Hurricane Michael, we've given away close to 4,000 trees to Lynhaven residents. And I think what inspired that is Hurricane Michael was a once-in-a-generation forest reset for the panhandle. Estimates vary a little bit, but I think everyone's in agreement that there was at least 1 million trees either destroyed or damaged in some way. And Lynn Haven was in the core impact zone of that storm. So early estimates showed Lynn Haven had about an 80% loss of the tree canopy throughout our community. So in addition to losing the natural beauty that that tree canopy provided, I think there were a couple other things that we need to consider as well. There's a loss of shade. So that loss of shade means the radiant temperature, radiant heat increases temperature. It's roofs that are no longer shaded, cars, roads, etc. And a huge impact that I don't think a lot of folks realize is the amount of groundwater that is handled or mitigated through the trees. Something that's often overlooked is the impact that trees have on groundwater and stormwater runoff. A typical mature oak may soak up 100 gallons a day, whereas a bald cypress may be 800 gallons of water a day. So considering the loss of trees that we had, now you have a groundwater level that has risen closer to the surface. And when we get a heavy rain, what would normally soak into the ground is now meeting a higher than normal groundwater table, which causes runoff and flooding issues. And I think Lynn Haven experienced that in the two to three years following Hurricane Michael. So it's important that we get trees planted just to mitigate stormwater, if nothing else.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

One of the beautiful things about the beauty of Lynn Haven is our closeness to the water, views of the bay, our natural resources, all the things that make it so special to be living here. But it also means basically Lynhaven sits at sea level. And what that means is we have this beautiful sloping city that reaches North Bay, connects to St. Andrews Bay, connects to the Gulf of Mexico. It's a tiny piece of paradise. But it also means it's very naturally vulnerable to storm surge and to flooding. Some of the ways that the city has worked to take care of the infrastructure and to try to alleviate some of the flooding and standing water issues from stormwater is it maintains the city's stormwater collection system consisting of, get this, approximately 2,057 catch basins, 96 outfalls, 52 miles of culverts, 153 ponds, and 44 miles of ditches and swales. As Lynnhaven continues to look ahead, the work of resilience is happening not just in what we plant or how we manage those miles of culverts and ditches, but in how we plan. The city was recently awarded a$285,000 resilient Florida grant to develop an adaptation plan focused on one of our key drainage basins. That plan will help us better understand how water moves through the area, identify ways to reduce flooding risk, and guide future improvements that strengthen our community over time. But just as important as the data and design is the voice of this community. In the months ahead, residents will be invited to share their thoughts, experiences, and ideas, helping shape a vision that reflects both the needs of today and the future of Lynn Haven tomorrow and for generations to come. Because resilience isn't just built through infrastructure, it's built together through community.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

The three to five trees they may have had remaining on the property were damaged or had to be removed as a result of rebuilding or cleanup efforts. So I think everyone is in agreement that we've got to get this re-established. We actually use a supplier here in town that gets most of them from Middle Florida area, and availability of the species will depend on what the growers have available at the time.

SPEAKER_00 10:41

They're the most resilient and did the best during Hurricane Michael. There's several trees that were like magnolias, the southern magnolia did great. They lost their limbs, but they kept their trunk and they're big and full and green today. So good thing to do again is have an arborist look because it's mostly the right tree in the right place. People put a nice tree out in their yard 10 feet from the house, not realizing that it's going to become a 36 to 40 inch diameter tree touching the house. So having somebody, whether it's a forester or an arborist, just give them the best tree for the location and species, because when you're buying a tree, if you buy a tree that's locally grown in our climate zone, it does a lot better when we get these cold weather. Palm trees are good. Our Florida native tree is a sable palm. A lot of people put palms in the ground because they're inexpensive and they're easy and they think they're a lot easier to maintain. They do really well in 100 mile-an-hour winds normally, but a palm tree, the best thing I can say about a palm tree is plant the right palm. So having the Florida sable palm and the varieties that do well in our panhandle of Florida is so important. And they do drink up a lot of water, but the other problem that we have with palm trees is people want to over prune them. So they'll go in and they'll cut all the fronds off, and that's how they do their transpiration and put water into the atmosphere. So a maple tree grows very quick, and about seven years it can get 35 feet. I love a maple tree, a red maple, a silver maple. They do have some issues with roots and with their uh longevity, they live about 35 years and can be longer and can be shorter. But in 35 years, I mean you're gonna have a lot of pleasure out of that tree, and in 20 plant another one. But if you want a fast-growing tree, the the maples are a good choice, the birches are a good choice. We have several natives that grow very fast.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

We try to stick with Florida natives as much as possible for a couple of reasons. One, those trees are hugely impactful to our wildlife and ecosystem here. For instance, one of the trees people request all the time are crepe myrtles. Crepe myrtles do very little to help the wildlife here. There may be one or two insects on there, whereas a mature oak would have dozens of species, if not a hundred different species, of bugs or insects on it, which then provide a food source, a reliable food source anyway, for a variety of birds. Provides a habitat for squirrels and birds. We want to go back with as many Florida natives as possible. Now, with that said, a lot of folks want an ornamental tree, such as a crepe myrtle. They're beautiful trees, but the still water mitigation is minimal and definitely doesn't help out a whole lot on the wildlife. When we first started having the tree giveaways, almost to a person, they would tell you the story of why I'm planting. I lost so many trees. You know, as time as time has passed over the last five or six years, I hear less and less of that. I think, as silly as this may sound, I feel like trees have a way of tying us to our community. And as an example, I can remember waking up early one morning and seeing this absolutely beautiful sunrise. Gorgeous. So much so that I woke up my three-year-old daughter and said, Come here, you gotta see this. And so I took pictures outside, and she happened to be standing beside the small tree. Well, fast forward 27 years, and this is just a few months ago, I had her two-year-old daughter at the house, and we were outside and stood beside the same tree and took picture. Now, there's nothing special about that tree in any way, but I feel like it's a part of our story. It's it's woven through our community in so many ways. Whether it's a tree I pass and realize, hey, I used to climb on that when I was a kid, or a tree that I associate my kids being on or around. We've got a huge cross-section of our community that comes out. You're gonna see young families, you're gonna see the elderly, we see folks pull up in golf carts, folks will be out there with cups of coffee, socializing with each other. Many times they show up 30 to 45 minutes ahead of time. And it's just a huge social space. When the trees arrive that morning, a lot of those same residents put down whatever they have and help us offload the trees. So plenty of kids. As a matter of fact, we have a kids' tree giveaway every year where we let every kid, Lynnhaven resident, get a tree and we give away books. Like last year, there were educational books, and the year before that it was the giving tree, which is classic. So we get a huge cross-section of folks. I heard a quote a few years ago that really resonated. The best time to plant a shade tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today. And I feel like this is a shared partnership with our community where we're doing this together. So we know what Lindhaven's going to be in the next 30 years.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Just people keep planting, people keep doing the best they can to be a good steward of their tree. That's what I'd like to see. I'll replace the canopy.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Rebuilding a canopy doesn't happen overnight. It happens one tree at a time. One yard at a time, one street, one neighborhood. One decision to plant something that may take years to fully grow, but that's the nature of trees. They ask us to think beyond today, beyond this season, and beyond even ourselves. And sometimes they become something more. Because sometimes they're not just a part of the landscape. They are markers of memory. We've talked about our trees as symbols of resilience, of roots, of growth, of beginning again. And here in Lynnhaven, one tree now stands as a symbol of that remembrance. A memorial tree has been planted in honor of a beloved city employee whose impact on this community will not be forgotten. Carol Funtner began working with the city of Lynnhaven in the summer of 2020. She passed away from an unexpected illness, which took all of her co-workers and the people who loved her by surprise. The city planted a tree in Sheffield Park as a memorial to her and something that can continue growing and reminding us of where we're going and of the hope we have for a future. And the fact that we continue contributing to that by planting. Because we're rooted together. We're in this together. We're a city, and this small city by the bay of twenty thousand plus and growing both remembers and looks forward to the future in consideration of the generations that follow us and we'll live here. This is Haven four four four.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

Our city.