Los Angeles tree advocates hope their vital work recovers from devastating fires WSOC TV [Video]

LOS ANGELES — (AP) — Some people across Los Angeles have worked for years to increase the number of trees that give respite from heat and air pollution.

The tree advocates have confronted increasing drought, bad trimming and objections from neighbors who resent leaves and sap. Now they wonder what this month’s devastating fires have done to their efforts.

City arborists have “sobering” photographs of large trees knocked onto homes and parkways from the same powerful winds that sent fires out of control, said Bryan Vejar, associate director of community forestry for TreePeople, an environmental nonprofit that works to plant and care for trees across Los Angeles. Other images show scorched canopies, he said.

The powerful Santa Ana winds damaged trees in South Los Angeles, Watts and Inglewood, historically underserved neighborhoods with less shade and TreePeople’s primary focus areas.

The air is still so bad that field crews cannot yet …