Environmentalists petition to block UF tree removal at campus conservation area
A local group called Friends of Natural Areas Incorporated has filed a petition for an administrative hearing with the St. Johns River Water Management District, challenging that agency’s approval of a University of Florida plan to remove trees at the Thomas J. Walker Conservation Area. UF says the removals — affecting 30 trees, five of them designated heritage trees — are needed to install storm drainage infrastructure to address flooding. Activists argue that removing even a portion of the forest undermines the area’s ecological function, including its natural capacity to manage stormwater.
Sources: WCJB TV20