NEWS RELEASE
FRIENDS OF UNB WOODLOT PREPARE TO LAUNCH LEGAL CHALLENGE, RENAMING CONTEST
On Thursday, October 30th, The Friends of the UNB Woodlot will hold a Press Conference in the lobby outside the UNB Science Library. The Press Conference will start at 12:00 noon.
The citizens of Fredericton will have the opportunity to save the gift given to the University of New Brunswick by King George in 1800: the University of New Brunswick’s Woodlot.
The Friends of the UNB Woodlot are asking the citizens of Fredericton to rename the city’s largest urban forest. By developing this land, UNB is choosing to abandon its mandate to “help society understand and deal with the major issues and opportunities of our time.” UNB is using this precious gift as a gold mine to pay for other projects instead of acknowledging its obvious impacts on air quality, waterways, and climate change.
Charlene Mayes of the Friends of the UNB Woodlot notes that, “The UNB Woodlot is our insurance policy. Without forested wetlands working as natural sponges, rainwater capture and run-off control will be seriously compromised.”
We, The Friends of the UNB Woodlot, feel that as a publicly funded institution, UNB has abandoned its social obligation not only to the university population but also to the citizens of Fredericton. In addition to losing valuable green-space, the citizens of Fredericton will be saddled with the bills for replacing the function of the Woodlot as a catchment area with costly infrastructure, in addition to losing valuable green-space. The goal of this contest is to let citizens take ownership of the Woodlot and rename King George’s gift.
Dr. Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy points out that, “Great universities across North America boast of their research and teaching forests, including McGill’s Gault Nature Reserve, Harvard Forest, and Stanford’s Jasper Ridge Ecological Preserve. Since this 3800-acre preserve is more than a woodlot, we wish to RENAME it as a forest. A new name will give it the importance and permanence that it so rightfully deserves.”
Ross Ferguson of the Friends of the UNB Woodlot states that, “Students come to a university for theory and practical experience. All research and teaching is NOT done in the classroom. And certainly UNB should not be a shopping experience.”
The Friends of the UNB Woodlot are also asking the community for financial support as we prepare to launch a legal challenge to protect this land and for assistance in creating a land trust agreement. A land trust can enter into conservation agreements where one party (the trustee) agrees to own and protect natural landscapes, forests, and waterways for the benefit of another party (the beneficiary). We want to have a third-party conservation land trust organization hold lands in the UNB Woodlot so that it can be protected for the good of citizens of Fredericton, and the students of UNB.
Despite UNB’s decision to kill twenty-four woodlot beavers with conibear traps in the Fall of 2006, the beavers have started to return to the woodlot and they need our protection from future developments. Not only does this action lack social responsibility, it is detrimental to the sustainability of the wetlands of the Woodlot. Beavers are significant to the health and maintenance of wetland environments, and experts assert that without them the wetlands will decrease in size by up to 90 %.
Urban beavers are cherished by children, parents, and tourists in cities across Canada. Raising social awareness about the importance of protecting the Woodlot’s beavers will begin with the showing of the IMAX film “Beavers” on November 28th, 7 pm at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre. At this event the winner of the ‘Rename the UNB Woodlot Contest’ will be announced. There will also be door-prizes announced for the children among us!
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Charlene Mayes and Carla Gunn, Spokespersons, The Friends of the UNB Woodlot
Telephone: 1-506-447-3442 (Charlene)
Telephone: 1-506-455-0695 (Carla)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE FRIENDS OF THE UNB WOODLOT
Website: www.smartgrowthUNB.ca
Facebook: “I don’t want the UNB woodlot turned into Big-Box Strip Malls”
YouTube: search for “UNB Woodlot”
E-mail: friendsoftheUNBwoodlot@gmail.com
Telephone: 1-506-454-5119
The Friends of the UNB Woodlot Strategy Group:
Jennifer Abbott
Andrew Bedford
Nolan Cornish
Mark D’Arcy
Kathryn Downton
Ross Ferguson
Heather Fogwill
Lui Greco
Carla Gunn
Dr. Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy
Charlene Mayes
Kathy Moulton
Janet Phillipps
Dr. Monika Stelzl
