McGehee Live Oaks: 10-12-26

October 12, 2026

McGehee School

2343 Prytania Street

New Orleans, LA 70130

Dear Ms. Dietsch,

Louisiana Landmarks Society urges McGehee School to spare the four mature live oaks, the magnolias, and the other trees slated for removal, and to consider alternatives for the new gym.

Old growth live oaks are part of the identity of New Orleans, as much a part of this city as its music, its architecture, and its food. The trees on your campus are living pieces of that heritage.

Trees of this age are small ecosystems. Their limbs shelter birds, insects, resurrection fern, and Spanish moss, a richness young trees lack. Their roots hold the soil, absorb stormwater, and reach through centuries of established fungal networks. Their canopies cool the air, filter pollutants, and intercept rainfall on a scale no sapling can approach for generations. Removing these trees will intensify the urban heat island effect, warming your campus and the surrounding homes and businesses.

Live oaks are famous for their hurricane resistance, and these specimens have weathered storms, floods, and epidemics that shaped the history of New Orleans. A newly planted oak would take well over a century to approach their stature.

Alternatives certainly exist. A more compact gym could perhaps be sited outside the trees’ critical root zones, and a certified arborist working with your architects can help determine how. A smaller facility can still serve your students well and would likely cost less to build and maintain. Louisiana Landmarks Society recognizes that because these trees stand on private property, the law may not protect them. However, what the law permits is not the same as what is right. Trees that have outlived generations of owners deserve more consideration.

We also ask you to consider what this teaches your students: that an institution can grow while honoring what it has inherited.

McGehee is the steward of these trees, not their owner in any lasting sense. Please ensure they continue to serve students and neighbors for generations to come.

Sincerely yours,

Sandra Stokes

Chair of Advocacy