The Tamerisks or Salt Cedars are a fairly dirty tree, but they are very dense. They weren’t installed for racist reasons. They were installed for the same reasons they were installed along the railroad tracks from Indio to Palm Springs. They first arrived by railroad as fenceposts from the east, but they rapidly sprout roots around any groundwater. They are considered an invasive species if mot maintained.
They provide an outstanding windbreak and grow as tall as the adjacent Eucalyptus trees planted alongside them.
The treeline is adjacent the older Williams street community, which tended to be an isolated black community adjacent the golf course and backed up to the Palm Springs Wash, just west of Cathedral Canyon Country Club. It is a nicely hidden small older subdivision, which became a generally black community. Homes were typically 70s vintage track homes, say 3Br, 2 bath, maybe 2/2s and not in a fancy neighborhood, but surrounded by nicer neighbor hoods and what used to be the Arnold Palmer Golf Course, now the Tahquitz Creek Golf Course. Exit streets ran to either the front of the Arnold Palmer Golf Course entrance or in their back, so some trailer park subdivisions.
Their value was driven by location, and the trees were planted to act as both a windbreak and a noise break, as the subdivision is also on the approach to the Palm Springs Intl Airport.
It’s stupid to take them down. They are a least cost, aesthetic, common sensical improvement to the environment to make the desert more livable for families and vacationers.
I’ve overseen other projects to remove similar treelines and it is very costly. The soils must be removed and roots bored and herbicided repeatedly to avoid their regrowth. Some consider them an invasive species as they leave salts in their trimmings and dropped needles, killing off many adjacent species.
It will cost closer to $1-$5 mil to replace these and remove them. For a subdivision with only 70 homes and about 20 backed up to the golf course, It’s a stupid idea. Ask the railroads and CalTrans. They’ve been trying to remove them for 20 years. It would be less risky to spend $50k per home to improve their landscaping or build something along the wash to improve their subdivision.
Some Conspiracy Theorists believe the only reason they are being removed is they are one of only a few species which are so thick, satellite radar is unable penetrate their coverage and if an indigent population were driven out of their homes and trying to survive, it would be one of the few areas which could not be targeted by satellite based systems. If the NoCa fires are Agenda 21 based, then there might be some coincidences with the efforts to remove Taemerisks from the landscape in the Desert Southwest.
I know they are costly to remove... we have the boy scouts do it here in St. Georrge. I really have no problem with the trees remaining, but they are considered noxious weeds where I am. I don’t buy the “racist tree” theory either. A GC superintendent will often place a stand of trees to create a visual barrier so that the golfer does not experience nearby homes or unattractive vistas. As I said before...those homeowners did not pay for that view..they are not entitled to it.
The gc course has the legal right to put up a solid wall if they desire.