After reaching 2,000 signatures on our petition in only one week, this issue is getting some attention.
Along with two well-done TV news stories, including the Fox 11 one produced by a UWO alum and posted on the petition page and another one found here, the Advance-Titan has published an excellent article about this issue, found here.
You can read the press release provided by the administration to Fox 11 in the print part of that story.
Here is a copy of a statement signed by several faculty and staff and sent to the administration and campus community earlier today in response to the information that facilities director Kurt Leibold has shared publicly:
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Dear Director Leibold (cc Provost Garrison and Chancellor Singh),
Thank you for communicating about this issue, which matters so much to so many on our campus and in the community.
This email did raise some questions for us. We hope you will be willing to consider them, in the interest of helping us all have the most accurate information to support productive dialogue and good decisionmaking. We offer these questions and comments in the spirit of collaboration and in support of our shared interest in advancing sustainability on our campus.
First, what is the riverfront location that native plants will be moved to? It isn’t clear from the email that a specific location has been chosen. This is important, as conversion of the native plantings is already underway, and quick transplant is important for success.
Second, other than Facilities, who was involved in making these decisions? We acknowledge and respect the expertise of the Facilities crew, but given the impact of these decisions on the university’s educational and sustainability goals, the expertise and input of other stakeholders and professionals on campus is also relevant.
Third, what scientific criteria were used to make the recent decisions about native plantings? If a goal of recent actions is to support pollinators and other wildlife, then conservation best practices should be considered. Much conservation research tells us that an important part of supporting wildlife populations and biodiversity is not just habitat, but habitat connectivity- meaning having many patches of habitat in a landscape, ideally located relatively close together or connected via corridors. Consolidating habitat in one place on the outskirts of campus means the rest of campus becomes a “dead zone” that pollinators and other wildlife can have difficulty moving through, and cannot use to forage for food, hide from predators, raise their young, or overwinter. You can imagine the potential impact this has on their populations, not just on campus but in the surrounding area. Organizations like The Wildlife Federation, Wild Ones, and many others have worked for years to get individuals and communities to plant native gardens at their homes, businesses, and public spaces, with exactly this principle- maximizing habitat connectivity throughout the landscape- in mind. You can find out more here.
Fourth, were accessibility and visibility considered when thinking about maintaining the educational purpose of native plantings? Having native plantings spread throughout campus allows instructors and students to access them easily and quickly from classrooms, without having to walk long distances to reach them. This matters when our classes usually meet for only 1 to 1.5 hours at a time. The visibility that comes with having native plantings spread throughout campus is also an important part of their educational value. Having them where people can regularly encounter them as they go about their normal day encourages everyone to see that it is possible to coexist with wildlife, and builds understanding and appreciation for the beauty and value of our native vegetation.
Finally, we were surprised to hear that native plantings were increasing the presence of pests. Our understanding is that research generally shows that more native habitat increases the abundance of helpful wildlife like pollinators, and reduces the abundance of harmful pests. We would love to hear more about this issue, and perhaps brainstorm ways to address it.
Thank you so much for considering our questions and comments. We look forward to hearing from you. We hope this can be the beginning of an open discussion about the status of native plantings on our campus, and how to balance concerns about aesthetics while also maintaining a commitment to a vision of sustainability that makes room for both humans and wildlife.
Respectfully,
Stephanie Spehar, Anthropology
Jim Feldman, Environmental Studies
Misty McPhee, Environmental Studies
Shannon Davis-Foust, Biology/Environmental Studies
Douglas Haynes, English
Paul Van Auken, Sociology
Laura Ladwig, Biology
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Keep in mind, too, that several of us, including multiple students, have shared our perspectives and requested further information from and meetings with the chancellor on several occasions and have been ignored; this is why we chose to create the petition, which at least has resulted in them discussing this issue publicly.