SAN ANTONIO — Alesia Garlock has been raising awareness about a plan by the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department to remove 105 trees—nine of them heritage trees—from Brackenridge Park.

She does it with TikTok videos and signs tied to the trees with a red ribbon that read “stop the chop” and “save heritage trees.” 

“We need to have our voice heard because this is our park and our Parks and Recreation [Department] has done a disservice to the people of San Antonio by not involving us in this project as planned to destroy trees and chase birds away,” Garlock said. 

Garlock says there’s no transparency with the community on what’s happening, which his why she’s out here with her signs every week day. 

San Antonio Park and Recreation told Spectrum News 1 that some of the trees are causing historic stone walls along the river to crack, and according to Bill Pennell, assistant manager of park planning, they are causing the walls to fail. Pennell says this is apart of the 2017 Brackenridge Park bond project, which emphasized restoring historic and cultural features of the park. 

“I mean we can only do so much patching. We got the money, we got the materials to be able to do actual repairs and fix this,” Pennell said. 

But Garlock says it shouldn’t cost the lives of heritage trees. 

“It’s a species that is the cornerstone of an ecosystem, and then you want to take how many out? The whole group, that is crazy,” Garlock said. “We didn’t agree to that. The bond project doesn’t say anything about destroying trees or chasing down migratory birds.”  

Garlock has also been vocal on city workers relocating the birds by clanging two pieces of wood together, which makes a sounds that reverberates throughout the park. 

“It’s sad. It’s really disservice and almost a misuse of public funds,” Garlock said. 

Pennell said this is for health and safety reasons. He said he’s had to close down the playground and remove picnic benches because of the bird feces. 

“We are just trying to get them to relocate, and obviously if we can get them relocated quicker they can start nesting,” he said. 

As for the tree removal, Pennell still has to see Historic and Design Review Commission (HDRC) on Feb. 16 before they get the green light to remove the 105 trees. 

“Then we are going to plant another 400 to 600 trees in the park to make up for it,” Pennell said. 

But Garlock said it just doesn’t work that way. 

“You take a tree out, a 100-year-old tree, you can’t replace it with a 6-inch tree. It won’t be the same. It’ll never be the same,” she said.