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Tree Vandalism
Over the weekend of Oct. 26-27, two maple trees in front of Nutting Hall were so seriously vandalized that they had to be completely removed. These trees were planted in honor of former University of Maine Forestry professors Ralph Griffin, Frederick Knight and Mark Houeswart.
As members of a committee whose task is to consider making the UMaine campus an arboretum, we deplore this destruction. We also want to take this opportunity to herald our efforts on behalf of the landscape of our campus.
Our Campus Arboretum Committee was recently formed by Provost Bob Kennedy. Making the entire campus an arboretum could beautify the campus horticulturally, better manage our historical landscape now and for future generations, encourage funding for campus beautification and improve it as a living laboratory for learning about plants.
This campus has considerable horticultural assets already, including many attractive plantings, the Lyle Littelfield Garden and the Fay Hyland Arboretum. So far our committee has been working on better management practices for campus plantings and considering issues related to making our campus an arboretum. For example, it would be shortsighted to invest heavily in plantings in future building sites. Other issues include the cost of proper maintenance of campus plantings, invasive exotic species, competing concerns of plant susceptibility to salt and the use of salt for winter road and sidewalk safety, and underground network of pipes, wires and cables under much of our campus that must be considered when establishing new plantings.
Many other universities and colleges have made their campuses an arboretum, and we hope to be able to do this here at UMaine. If you want further information or want to support this cause, please contact us. The UMaine Arboretum Committee is Mark Allen, Sandra Blake-Leonard, Susan Brawley, Christopher Campbell, Pat Cummings, Tom Gasaway, Bob Kennedy, Bill Kuykendall, Bill Mitchell, Reeser Manley and Anita Wihry, and most of us can be reached on FirstClass.
UMaine Arboretum Committee members
Bangor Daily News