THE BATTLE OF THE UNB WOODLOT CONTINUES!!!!

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Originally uploaded by Oldmaison

Hello Charles,

Please consider printing the following. I have included a great picture for the article.

Sincerely,

Mark
--
Mark D'Arcy and Caroline Lubbe-D'Arcy
379 Northumberland Street
Fredericton, New Brunswick
506.454-5119 (home)


OnlyOneUNB Woodlot - SEE THE TEXT THAT UNB DID NOT WANT ITS ALUMNI TO READ

Please find below a copy of the censored letter, which was published in the
recent Winter edition of the UNB Alumni News. This letter was not printed as submitted: text
portions were DELETED ( in brackets) from the submitted letter.

Every university, certainly the oldest public university in North America,
must uphold high standards of integrity, free speech, public consultation,
and debate. To publish several inaccurate statements in the magazine sent
out to their own alumni (over 51,700 on the mailing list), and then censor public responses to these
statements, is a serious breach of trust of these standards.

There is only one Woodlot. Sign the petition at smartgrowthUNB.ca


LETTER CENSORED BY UNB ADMINISTRATION :
(page 7, 2008 Winter UNB Alumni News)

We, The Friends of the UNB Woodlot, feel compelled to respond to the article
published in the UNB Alumni news (Fall 2007). Several points in the article
are partially or completely inaccurate. We wish to clarify several of these
points.

First, the article attributes two quotations (p.16) to the original wording
of the land grant of 1800 that are no where to be found. UNB claims that
this land grant gives it the freedom to use the land any way it wants to.
The Government of Great Britain did not sell this land to The College of New
Brunswick, but rather it was granted under Quit-rent, to be used for public
purposes forever: "...to the sole proper use and behold of the said Governor
and Trustees of The College of New Brunswick and their successors and assign
forever...". This obligation was further strengthened by the 1827 Royal
Charter for King's College and the 1859 provincial Act Establishing The
University of New Brunswick that requires trustees "...shall be able and
capable to have, take, and receive, purchase, acquire, hold, possess, enjoy,
and maintain..."; ((DELETED - the sale of Woodlot land is not an option for
UNB!)) UNB's actions seem to be in clear violation of the original land
grant. ((DELETED - The sale of the Woodlot land to the City of Fredericton
for the four-lane highway represents one concrete example of such
violation.))

((DELETED - Second, the article claims that extensive consultation, both
professional and public, was undertaken (p.17). UNB prides itself on its
Forestry Faculty. However, this faculty was not consulted nor given a chance
to contribute to a management plan. In fact, neither a wildlife nor
forestry management plan was used in the preparation of the development
strategy of the Woodlot. The Maritime School of Forest Technology was not
consulted either.))

((DELETED - With respect to public consultation, the article claims that
"Many stakeholder groups and individuals from within and beyond UNB were
consulted to obtain information and input on valued features of the woodlot,
including recreational, research, teaching, and environmental features." (
p.17). It appears however, that only minimal public consultation was
conducted. On the basis of numerous discussions, it is clear that some of
the interest groups were given virtually no opportunity to submit their
input or were misquoted.))

((DELETED - With regard to the absence of wildlife and forestry management
plans, finally,)) the article states that "?the plan has designated 50 per
cent of the approximately 3,815 acres of the UNB Woodlot as green space" (
p.15). Unfortunately, this patchwork of isolated wetlands and their narrow
buffers cannot support a full range of meaningful wildlife habitat nor
long-standing teaching and recreation value. By law these wetlands cannot be
developed, so preserving them does not constitute any real stewardship.
((DELETED - Already, the Woodlot's wildlife is being threatened. For
example, UNB's own symbol, the beaver, is being actively eliminated from the
Woodlot via the use of underwater body-gripping kill traps. In November and
December of 2006, twenty-four beavers were killed in this fashion.))

In light of these disturbing facts, we, The Friends of the UNB Woodlot, call
upon the University of New Brunswick to place a moratorium on the
development of the UNB Woodlot. Development should stop until extensive and
meaningful public participation takes place. To find more about this issue
and/or to sign a petition, please visit www.unbwoodlot.org or
www.smartgrowthunb.ca.

On behalf of Friends of the UNB Woodlot,

Andrew Bedford
Mark D'Arcy (UNB BSc 1986)
Ross Ferguson
Dr. Caroline Lubbe-D'Arcy
Dr. Charlene Mayes
Janet Phillipps
Dr. Monika Stelzl (UNB BA 1996)