The City Council Voted 6 To 1 In Favor Of Relocating The Oak Tree
“Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene. Oh, I’m begging of you please don’t take my… tree.”
That’s what some residents of a city in Texas are saying as city officials prepare to move a 400-year-old tree that has come to be known as Jolene.
This tree relocation project is being undertaken in Kyle, Texas, and some local residents, as well as other interested individuals, have spoken out online through a Change.org petition which has garnered 2,020 verified signatures as of October 1.
“The Kyle City Council has voted to destroy a 400-year-old oak tree on Old Stagecoach Rd, much to the horror & dismay of thousands of residents,” reads the change.org petition. “We are a concerned group of local citizens trying to prevent this from happening.”
The city, on the other hand, has outlined its plan to preserve the tree and will be moving it to the site of a new parklet.
About The Tree Moving Project
According to the City of Kyle, destroying the tree is not an option.
Noting that the heritage live oak tree, nicknamed Jolene, is 51 inches in diameter — and is more commonly known as the Old Stagecoach Heritage Oak Tree due to its location on N Old Stagecoach Road — plans in the city to move the tree go back to 2020.
As the city planned for a road-widening project, it was found that this tree, which is six inches from the existing road, was in the way.
Back in February of 2025, the Kyle City Council voted 6-1 to relocate the tree, and the City of Kyle government has now allocated nearly $1 million to relocate this tree.
Other plans the city considered included removing the tree and using its wood for an art project, or realigning the road to keep the tree where it presently is, but both of those proposals were rejected.
With the relocation approved, the processes of pre-treatment, tree relocation, and aftercare will cost approximately $932,800, far surpassing the cost of the road restoration project, which only costs $129,540.
Relocating the tree is much cheaper compared to the estimated $2,400,000 to $6,700,000 it would cost to realign the roadway around the tree.
The tree will be moved to an area near a subdivision with a “matching soil profile,” according to the City of Kyle Road Bonds website.
Since July, a company contracted by the city, called Environmental Design, Inc., has been pretreating the tree for this relocation, and the company “will provide 24 months of post-relocation care for the tree.”
Speaking to what the city is doing to ensure the survival of the tree, the City of Kyle said:
“Although relocation does not guarantee survival according to multiple contracted studies done on behalf of the City of Kyle by certified arborists, the city is committed to the long-term maintenance efforts needed to give the live oak its best chance. Those efforts include but are not limited to proper irrigation, annual mulching, and monthly inspections by a qualified arborist.”
City Mayor Travis Mitchell told KUT News, “I’ve really struggled with this tree over the years, and trying to understand what to do while also keeping the city moving forward.”
Public Reaction
Some residents are not pleased with the city’s plan for the tree, with the change.org petition being one of the most vocal outlets against the project.
On the petition’s page, the tree is referred to be a third name.
Rather than Jolene or the Old Stagecoach Heritage Tree, the organizer of the change.org petition calls it The Porter Oak, in honor of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Katherine Anne Porter. Porter, whose childhood home is a literary center in downtown Kyle, wrote the 1962 novel Ship of Fools.
The petition adds, “The city officials & newspapers refer to it as ‘Jolene’ for some reason, but we have never heard anyone else call it that in real life.”
Organizers of the petition are monitoring the movement of officials around the tree.
Placed at the trunk of the tree is a sign reading, “Don’t cut me down. I’m 400 years old.”
Despite the city having a plan to safely relocate the tree, the petition states, “The destruction has been approved by council and may occur any day.”
One comment on the petition says:
“Absolutely absurd that a City younger than a tree is trying to remove it. Its a peice of history and big deal for the environment. City’s deem Historical Places for things in the early 1900s. Deem this tree a Historical Landmark. It deserves it.”
Next year, America will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 400 years ago, in 1625, Texas was not yet a colony of Spain and was inhabited by a variety of Native American tribes.
This is a developing story.