I found out today from my friend Warren that part of the Gifford Arboretum at the University of Miami is at risk of being LOST! Please read the article and send emails with your feelings on the issue to President Shalala, Mayor Slesnick and the city commissioners. I need your help on this one trust me their are some very rare and beautiful specimens. Thanks!
About three years ago, as we were planning the massive renovation of University of Miami’s
Gifford Arboretum, we were told that a road might be built through the arboretum, sometime in the future. We recently found out that the future has arrived.
This May, construction is scheduled to begin on Phase I of the road, which will wipe out most of the south end of the arboretum, from the wooden sign to the main entrance. A parking lot will be built between the new road and the Cox building. In the way are lofty royal palms, our irreplaceable lignum vitae tree (perhaps the finest specimen in South Florida), the kapok or world tree of the Maya, and the arboretum’s tallest tree—a total of 145 trees and plants. Three of our 13 exhibits will be destroyed—the Palm family, What is a Tree, and the Maya Cocoa Garden—and the arboretum will lose 23% of its land.
Although we’ve been assured that most of the condemned trees will be moved, there are presently no plans for where they will be moved to. One possibility is to store the trees out of the ground this summer, and then,
if they survive, plant them in random parking lots throughout the campus. Meanwhile, Phase II of the road, from the arboretum main entrance to the art lots, will be planned this summer and built in December. Preliminary plans suggest that it might destroy at least two more arboretum exhibits.
The loss of almost half of the arboretum’s exhibits would irreparably harm our teaching mission, as well as our ability to attract funding and recruit the next arboretum director.
How did this happen so suddenly? The UM Planning Department did not inform the UM Biology Department or the Friends of the Gifford Arboretum of their plans—we found out by accident. However, it’s not yet a done deal. Although the final plans for Phase I were submitted to the City of Coral Gables on Dec. 10, the city has not yet approved them. And despite the apparent rush to complete the road this year, the deadline set by the city for its completion is Dec. 2012—almost three years from now.
The Friends of the Gifford Arboretum believe that the university’s and the city’s transportation and parking needs can be met while preserving the arboretum intact. Other options have not been explored adequately. If you agree that the road and parking lot must be kept out of the arboretum, the Friends of the Gifford Arboretum ask that you join them in writing to President Shalala
(http://www.miami.edu/index.php/about_us/leadership/office_of_the_president/suggestions_and_comments/),
and Mayor Slesnick and the city commissioners
(http://www.coralgables.com/CGWeb/government.aspx). As time is extremely
short, please act ASAP. The future is up to you...
In your letter, please:
- Request that the road and parking lot be kept out of the University of
Miami’s Gifford Arboretum.
- Emphasize the arboretum’s teaching value as a unique living museum of
tropical trees, composed of coherent exhibits.
- Let them know how important this issue is to you, in terms of what’s
important to them (e.g. your experience at UM; your vote).
- Keep it brief—no more than a page.
- Be nice!
Thank you for your support! Please spread the word and share your ideas—and let us know what you do. And don’t forget to come to our upcoming tours, educational meetings, and the annual arboretum lecture
(check it all out at www.bio.miami.edu/arboretum). See you in the arboretum!
