From Ground Zero to Las Vegas: Trees symbolizing resilience take root in the desert

Twenty-five years after it was uprooted and covered with rubble in the 9/11 attacks, a Callery pear tree known as the Survivor Tree stands tall at ground zero in New York City.

More than 2,200 miles away, two offspring of that tree are adjusting to the desert climate of Las Vegas.

“It’s not necessarily considered a desert-adapted tree,” said Bradley Daseler, an urban forester for the city of Las Vegas. “It’s more of a New York-style tree. It wants a little bit cooler temperatures, a little bit more water. That’s when it’s going to perform at its best.”

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum’s Seedling Program annually gifts seedlings to places impacted by tragedy. Las Vegas was selected in 2018 in remembrance of the Oct. 1, 2017, Route 91 Harvest festival shooting, which killed 60 people.

Daseler said he watched anxiously over the two trees from the moment they were first received and placed in a nursery until they were officially planted in 2021.

“It was nerve-wracking,” Daseler said. “We felt a lot of responsibility and maybe a little bit of angst caring for them and knowing that they had that special significance wrapped around them.”

Five years later, the trees have grown and performed well, according to Daseler.

One tree was planted at the Police Memorial Park near West Cheyenne Avenue and the 215 Beltway. The other was planted outside Las Vegas Fire Department Station 5, near West Charleston and South Valley View boulevards.

At the base of the tree at the fire station, a plaque explains how the original tree was buried for nearly a month after the attacks before it was discovered in the rubble.

“This tree stands as a living reminder of resilience, survival and rebirth,” the plaque reads.

Next to the tree is a piece of a steel beam from the World Trade Center.

Contact Kalohe Danbara at kdanbara@reviewjournal.com.