{"id":19667,"date":"2026-05-06T15:59:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T20:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.treefolks.org\/?p=19667"},"modified":"2026-05-06T17:06:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T22:06:30","slug":"rooted-in-recovery-how-treefolks-is-helping-central-texas-restore-trees-lost-in-the-2025-floods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.treefolks.org\/es\/2026\/05\/06\/rooted-in-recovery-how-treefolks-is-helping-central-texas-restore-trees-lost-in-the-2025-floods\/","title":{"rendered":"Rooted in Recovery: How TreeFolks Is Helping Central Texas Restore Trees Lost in the 2025 Floods"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After a disaster, recovery takes time. TreeFolks is helping communities restore flood-damaged creek and river corridors with native trees, long-term care, and a commitment to the future.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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When a landscape changes, a community feels it<\/b><\/h4>\n

When the July 2025 floods moved through Central Texas, they changed more than the land. Human loss was heartfelt around the state, changing families forever, while communities carried overwhelming sorrows.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t

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The floods affected Sandy Creek, Cow Creek, and the San Gabriel River, washing away trees that had shaded homes, held streambanks together, and helped define the places people know by heart. In the months since, many landowners have been living not only with the damage left behind but with the absence of trees that once made their properties feel rooted, familiar, and alive. Through <\/span>Arraigados en la recuperaci\u00f3n<\/b><\/a>, TreeFolks is helping communities begin restoring those flood-damaged areas with native trees and long-term support.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t

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\u201cRecovery is not only about what was lost. It is also about what a community chooses to grow back together.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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What Marina saw on the ground<\/b><\/h4>\n

As TreeFolks began meeting with landowners affected by the floods, one truth kept surfacing: people were grieving together. Marina Weikel, TreeFolks\u2019 Reforestation and GIS Manager, saw how those conversations opened the door to something more than site planning. \u201cWhile doing consultations with landowners who were affected during the flood, they mentioned how many trees they lost. At the same time, this allowed them to connect with one another, grieve together, and form a tighter community. They understand how planting these trees will help nature. They will become land stewards together, depending on each other in the long term.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That spirit now sits at the center of the work ahead. What begins as reforestation can also become shared stewardship. Neighbors who have lived through the same loss begin to imagine the same future. Tree by tree, they are not only restoring land. They are rebuilding connection.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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What Rooted in Recovery does<\/b><\/h3>\n

Rooted in Recovery provides post-disaster restoration services at no cost to eligible landowners in <\/span>Travis, Williamson, and Burnet counties<\/b> whose riparian areas, streambanks, or floodplain forests were damaged by the floods. Through the program, TreeFolks offers native trees, professional planting services, site assessments, and technical support to help restore healthier, more resilient creek and river corridors. The work is designed to help flood-damaged landscapes recover in ways that can better withstand future extreme weather. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t

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These restored areas do important work over time. Trees along creeks and rivers help stabilize soil, reduce erosion, improve water quality, and create habitat for wildlife. They also help communities protect the natural systems that support them. In this way, Rooted in Recovery is both practical and hopeful. It helps repair what was damaged while investing in a stronger landscape for the years ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n

TreeFolks is working together with the Hill Country Alliance and is supported by Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t

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\u201cIn the wake of the flood, neighbors found one another in their grief and are now becoming land stewards side by side.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t
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A long history of helping nature recover after loss<\/b><\/h4>\n

TreeFolks brings deep experience to this moment. The organization\u2019s work includes reforestation after the <\/span>2011 Bastrop County fires<\/b> and the <\/span>2015 Blanco River floods<\/b>, part of a broader history of helping restore forests after natural disasters in Central Texas. TreeFolks has also engaged thousands of volunteers to plant <\/span>more than 3 million trees<\/b> since 1989. That history matters because recovery does not happen all at once. It takes patience, local knowledge, and a commitment to staying with a community after the first shock has passed. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n\n\t

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\u201cPlanting trees after a disaster is one way we say that healing is still possible, and that these communities are worth investing in for the long term.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n

Andrew Smiley, Executive Director of TreeFolks<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
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Through Rooted in Recovery, TreeFolks continues that tradition of helping nature recover after loss while standing beside the people doing the same in their own communities. In time, these trees will offer shade, habitat, stronger streambanks, and a living reminder that recovery can take root.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery tree planted through Rooted in Recovery is a promise that healing can take root, and that nature and community can rise together.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t
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Frequently Asked Questions<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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What is Rooted in Recovery?<\/b>
\nRooted in Recovery is TreeFolks\u2019 post-flood reforestation effort. It helps restore creek and river corridors damaged by the July 2025 floods through native tree planting, site assessments, and technical support. <\/span><\/p>\n

Who can take part?<\/b>
\nThe program is available to eligible landowners in Travis, Williamson, and Burnet counties whose riparian areas, streambanks, or floodplain forests were damaged by the floods. <\/span><\/p>\n

What support does TreeFolks provide?<\/b>
\nTreeFolks provides native trees, professional planting services, site assessments, and technical support at no cost to participating landowners. <\/span><\/p>\n

Why does replanting matter after a flood?<\/b>
\nRestoring trees along waterways can help stabilize soil, reduce erosion, improve water quality, and rebuild wildlife habitat while supporting healthier, more resilient landscapes over time. <\/span><\/p>\n

Be Part of the Recovery<\/b><\/h3>\n

To learn more about Rooted in Recovery and how TreeFolks is helping Central Texas communities restore trees lost in the 2025 floods, <\/span>visit the program page and explore eligibility details<\/span><\/a>. We also invite you to consider contributing to the program in a short or long-term capacity. Visit <\/span>treefolks.org\/recovery<\/span><\/a> to start helping.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t

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Author<\/h4><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n
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H\u00e9ctor Gonz\u00e1lez, Communications Strategy Manager.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a disaster, recovery takes time. TreeFolks is helping communities restore flood-damaged creek and river corridors with native trees, long-term care, and a commitment to the future. When a landscape...","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":19609,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,293],"tags":[259,105,97,66],"class_list":["post-19667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reforestation","category-rooted-in-recovery","tag-city-of-austin","tag-education","tag-everyday-superheroes","tag-planting-trees"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t