A Dark Future For The Cherry Blossoms: Reports

WASHINGTON, DC -- The District is getting ready to celebrate the cherry blossoms again this spring, but some are posting sobering reminders that the long-term fate of the trees may be sealed.

A 2017 piece published in the Washingtonian was one of a few reports to spell out the unfortunate fate facing the 3,800 Yoshino cherry trees that surround the Tidal Basin and usher in the spring each year in our area.

The trees are threatened by the "continued decay of the seawall designed to keep the area from flooding," the report notes. Not only that, but the 1.5 million people visiting D.C. to see the cherry blossoms are packing and ruining the soil. Visitors also walk on roots and hang on branches, stressing the trees out.

All of these factors combine to damage the root structures of the trees. Already, the National Park Service is replacing 90 trees per year, according to the report.

Annual reminder that the cherry blossoms are doomed. https://t.co/SB6OYQU0ej
— Benjamin Freed (@brfreed) March 20, 2019

The seawall is the more pressing problem, as it is in desperate need of repairs. Congress has declined year after year to provide funding to fix it. Pew Charitable Trusts estimates says it would cost $512.3 million to repair them, and there appears to be little appetite to do so on Capitol Hill.

If the seawall does collapse -- which will happen eventually if nothing is done -- it will ruin perhaps thousands of trees.

"If Congress takes action, the Park Service can fix these problems and save Washington’s cherry trees, which arrived in 1912 as a gift to the U.S. from the people of Japan," Pew wrote. "Otherwise the blossoms could become another casualty of the Park Service’s wait for adequate funding for infrastructure repairs. Our famous cherry trees: another reason to #FixOurParks."