Hello fellow BESTers,

If you can forgive one more e-mail on this listserv about the
Corry Village project, I'd like to provide some perspective on the
role of the Lakes, Vegetation and Landscaping Committee (LVL). Any
project on campus that involves the removal or relocation of
living trees must go through the LVL for review (trees that have
died or that pose an immediate safety hazard are exempt from this
review). Many of the projects that we review involve the removal
or relocation of only one or a few trees.

The Corry Village project, in comparison with most projects
presented to the LVL, involves the removal of an unusually large
number of trees. However, it was clear to me (and I believe to the
other members of the LVL) in the presentation by the project
planners that they had done everything possible to minimize the
impact of the project on the existing vegetation. The routing of
the infrastructure improvements had been adjusted to avoid
impacting other tree species on site (see note #2 in the "Corry
Village tree removal" attachment in Dedee's e-mail). The idea of
using the wood from the cut trees for furniture or trim in campus
housing is an interesting one, and is over and above the
university requirements for tree replacement or mitigation.

Regarding the question about heritage trees: generally, a tree is
considered a heritage tree if it is over 20 inches in diameter
(the size varies somewhat depending on the species; the specifics
are available in the "treemitigationpolicy" pdf, also attached to
Dedee's e-mail). Heritage trees are replaced 4:1; non-heritage
trees are replaced 2:1. In cases where trees cannot be replaced
onsite, the project must pay a fee to a tree mitigation fund.
Mitigation fees start at $500 per tree and go up with increasing
tree size (this is also detailed in the "treemitigationpolicy"
pdf).

I applaud the interest and concern that individuals have expressed
regarding the removal of trees on our campus. At the same time, I
feel that the existing tree mitigation policy and the LVL
effectively discourage tree removal except in cases where it is
absolutely necessary. The fact that a committee exists whose main
purpose is to review the proposed removal of any living tree,
anywhere on campus, demonstrates the university's commitment to
maintaining the vegetation and greenspace on our campus. Further
information on the LVL and related university policies is
available at http://www.facilities.ufl.edu/lvl/index.htm.

Finally, for students who would like to become more involved, my
term as student representative to the LVL ends this summer and to
my knowledge a replacement has not been selected. I have worked
with this committee for the past year and can assure you that this
is a group of good people who are as concerned as you are about
our trees, lakes, and natural areas. Students interested in
becoming part of the LVL, or any other university committee, may
complete an application at http://www.dso.ufl.edu/vpsa/.
Applications for 2009-2010 committee service are due June 12,
2009.


--
Corrie Pieterson
FEER Lab
School of Forest Resources and Conservation
School of Natural Resources and Environment
University of Florida