December 7, 2009
Re: UNB Woodlot
Dear UNB President Eddy Campbell,
Congratulations on your recent appointment as UNB President. The Conservation Council’s Fredericton Chapter would like to request a meeting with you and appropriate UNB staff including Barbara Nicholson, the university’s Associate Vice-President of Capital Planning and Property Development, to discuss our concerns with the development of the UNB Woodlot.
The UNB Woodlot is home to over 3,500 acres of wild woods, species of conversation concern like herons and forest orchids, as well as trails accessible to the citizens of Fredericton in any season. Many citizens of Fredericton enjoy the UNB Woodlot as a place of recreation and refuge and escape from the increasing proliferation of concrete, asphalt, litter, light, noise and visual pollution.
The UNB Woodlot is used by students and faculty as an important natural research lab for fish ecology, forestry and other studies. Urban forests such as the UNB Woodlot reduce air pollutants and carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, which is a key factor in mitigating climate change. Rain captured by the UNB Woodlot supplies the headwaters and tributaries of Corbett Brook, Phyllis Creek, Garden Creek and Baker Brook watersheds. The forested wetlands contribute to our acquifer and act as a giant sponge during severe rain events by retaining water and slowly releasing water to surrounding forests and aquifers that supply our drinking water wells.
The development of the UNB Woodlot with big box stores is intolerable given today’s knowledge of the importance of conserving such natural gems. We are opposed to the Costco development infringing on the 80-metre buffer zone designated to protect Corbett Marsh. We care about the UNB Woodlot and want to see it protected. Protecting strips along wetlands that amount to 50% “Heritage Conservation Land” will not protect the ecological integrity of the UNB Woodlot or the vital ecological services that an intact UNB Woodlot currently provides today.
UNB university professors, UNB students, UNB alumni, users of the UNB Woodlot and citizens of Fredericton have all spoken publicly against the current development plans for the UNB Woodlot. 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.
We want to see public consultations and a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment done on the proposed developments in the UNB Woodlot. The current piecemeal fashion of assessing each development does not adequately address the cumulative environmental impact of each development.
We would like to see an immediate moratorium on development within the UNB Woodlot until the following conditions have been met: Initiation of a Comprehensive Environmental Plan for the UNB Woodlot, and the establishment of a standing inter-disciplinary committee for the woodlot that includes experts in biology, forestry, hydrogeology and other pertinent fields.
We urge you in your new role as President of UNB to recognize and respect the immeasurable value associated with the UNB Woodlot.
We would look forward to hearing from you regarding our meeting request. To arrange a meeting, please contact Tracy at forest@conservationcouncil.ca or (506) 458-8747.
Sincerely,
Tracy Glynn, Forest Campaigner, Conservation Council of New Brunswick and organizer, Fredericton Chapter of Conservation Council of New Brunswick
Julie Michaud, Climate Action Coordinator, Conservation Council of New Brunswick and organizer, Fredericton Chapter of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick
Kevin Matthews, Conservation Council of New Brunswick Board Member
Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy, Friends of the UNB Woodlot
Charlene Mayes, Senior Teaching Associate, Biology, UNB
Shaun Bartone, UNB PhD student (Sociology)
Monika Stelzl, UNB Alumni, 1996
Janet Phillips, Retired UNB librarian
Kerri Krawec, UNB student
Anne-Drea Allison, Friends of the UNB Woodlot and STU Social Work, 2009
Dr. Barbara Kerr
Earle Arnold
cc – Barbara Nicholson, UNB Associate Vice-President of Capital Planning and Property Development
