The Woodlands Township continues tree removal process, enacts replacement plan

"We believe in the use of larger container trees as opposed to smaller saplings," Powers said.

The board had the option of utilizing about $380,000 on a program that would have planted about 13,000 smaller trees, but the township could be facing more costs for additional tree removal.

Director Gordy Bunch said the idea of planting larger trees, as opposed to smaller ones, is to patch some of the bare spots in the community's forested sections and "get The Woodlands looking like The Woodlands."

Township General Manager Don Norrell said about 3,000 dead trees still need to be removed from township property.

According to a report by American Forest Management, which conducted a "forest audit" earlier this year, 16 percent of the 1.8 million trees in The Woodlands died as a result of last year's drought. The township removed about 16,000 trees through the summer and continue their tree removal program.