sethg
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re:Possible Forest Destruction Issue, Please Help - 2006/07/26 13:26
I have contacted the Bergen County Sierra club and they did give me a few names to talk to, but no response yet. It turns out that the Sierra club has quite a few towns that have been trying to tear down open space and they are overwhelmed.
The Audubond Society gave me some government offices to contact, which I have done so (such as the DEP, soil conservation, EPA).
The Arbor Day foundation said they are strictly and educational group and would not get involved. Unfortunately they did not have updated resources on how to save the trees.
I have written to every County, State and Municipal office and official I could find (I know the "higher-ups" will not get my correspondance") and I am trying to encourage everyone to write and Email to try and save this land. There are some of the most beautiful birds in this forest. Since the pollution and abuse of the 80's the woods have had an AMAZING rebirth and it is not uncommon to see
Hawks and hear the calls of Owls daily (or nightly). We see literally groups of
Cardinals and Blue Jays. Everything from the Robin Red Breast to your run of the mill black crow. It is unfair and inhumane to rip their homes from them.
The Oradell Mayor and Council are unwilling to even hear out the arguments of the environmentalists, sometimes they will only inform the little league and recreation committes so that the "Tree Huggers" as we are called, cant vote or express concerns.
We may have no chance to save the wildlife here.
Here is a link to the story:
http://www.bergenrecord.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk0Mjgm
Here is the story text:
Residents: Trees are as important as playing fields
Thursday, July 24, 2003
By PAUL ZIOBRO
STAFF WRITER
ORADELL - Plans to increase athletic field space are under way but it could come at the cost of several hundred trees.
The Borough Council hired Boswell McClave Engineering on Tuesday to evaluate the Ridgewood Avenue field area and surrounding woods for an expansion and renovation project.
Boswell will prepare construction plans, cost estimates, and documents for bidding on the project, which is estimated to cost between $2 million and $4 million.
Boswell, the borough engineer, will also perform an environmental study on the wooded Ridgewood Avenue area, some of which is designated wetlands. The
24.2-acre area already has two Little League baseball fields, a playground, and a parking lot.
The South Hackensack firm will get no more than $75,000 for the engineering work, and no more than $24,000 for the environmental study, officials said.
But some residents at Tuesday's meeting were upset that the council is considering chopping down trees when they say several town fields are not being used enough. They argued some cleared spaces could be converted into athletic fields.
Resident Richard Boff said the council should consider using Little League baseball fields as soccer and lacrosse fields before cutting down trees. He also suggested building an athletic field on open land near Genther Avenue.
Councilman Charles May said the Ridgewood Avenue area is being considered because the fields already have lights, which would allow fall practices and games to run late into the evening.
Meanwhile, Councilwoman Sonja Hanlon, liaison to the borough Environmental and
Shade Tree commissions, opposed hiring Boswell to perform the environmental study.
"It's just a cleaner, sweeter smelling thing to have an environmental firm come in, and then award the engineering contract to Boswell," Hanlon said.
Hanlon supports expanding the athletic fields, but only if the trees are cut down "judiciously." She added that the Shade Tree Commission might recommend performing an additional environmental impact study on the proposed site.
Enrollment in recreation programs has been on the rise boroughwide for five years, said Ken McGovern, chairman of a subcommittee for the Ridgewood Avenue project.
While enrollment in the soccer program has remained steady with between 1,000 and 1,200 participants, football has risen from 60 players five years ago to
215 this season, cheerleading from 60 to 150, baseball from 562 to 640, and basketball from 390 to 440, according to McGovern.
The project's subcommittee, formed in May, recommended Boswell based on a preliminary sketch that incorporated needs from a "wish list" and maintained "a natural park-like setting while minimizing tree removal and any disturbances to neighboring properties," according to a memo.
Among the recommendations of the subcommittee were to create a football field, soccer field, full-size and Little League baseball diamonds, a softball field, scoreboards, and doubling parking spaces.
May, a councilman who is on the Recreation Committee, said the sports complex would have buffers of at least 200 feet from homes. He also suggested two residents from the area be placed on the subcommittee developing the plan.
Please write to Mayor Fred LaMonica
Raymond Eckel - Council President
Chuck May
Keith Redding
Sonja Hanlon
Andrew Marulis
Joseph Murray
at Oradell Borough Hall 355 Kinderkamack Rd Oradell NJ 07649
Tell them to save the Trees NOW!
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