After a series of delays and substantial public outcry, a UAF-contracted company will begin removing several hundred trees near the West Ridge Trailhead this week, though substantially fewer trees will be cut down than were slated for the saw last week.

An elementary school event, Outdoor Days, held in the same area, and committee member's concerns about the increased number of marked trees delayed the cuttings.

Richard Boone, Head of the North Campus Planning Subcommittee, said that the tree cutting process was flawed in a number of ways. He said that the public was not properly informed of the plan, and that significantly more trees than what UAF had originally estimated were marked for cutting, including  "a large number of totally healthy trees."

The tree removal plan originated in a proposal by the Geophysical Institute, which said that the trees were interfering with its Earth Observing Satellite Receiving Antenna reception.  The G.I. said that the trees' effects on the dish's reception was getting to the point of violating a multimillion dollar contract with NASA.

One of the satellite's main uses is to study global warming through sea ice changes in the Artic Ocean.

Bob Shefchik, assistant director of finance in the Geophysical Institute's Business Office said that the G.I. "made the request through the proper channels, it was carefully evaluated, went to the master planning committee, and was approved."

"This was not done in a vacuum by nameless people," he said.

Professor Ed Packee, a professional forester, evaluated the thinning plan.  He recommended that 350-400 trees in the satellite's line of sight be cut, as well as another hundred diseased trees and others that posed a threat to power lines.

Packee admitted that the woods would be "aesthetically less pleasing" afterwards, but that cutting the trees was the best available option.

"We're not talking about a pristine area here," Packee said, pointing out trash and damage caused to trees by trail grooming equipment.

Packee said that new trees would grow where others have been cut.  "Everything dies eventually," he said.

Others did not share Packee's appraisal of the situation.

UAF Chancellor Jones reported last Thursday to have received "hundreds of complaints in the last 48 hours" concerning the tree clearing.

A grassroots campaign sprung up overnight with many questioning why 550 trees had to be removed when only 250 were originally recommended by the Master Planning Committee.

Boone said that the roughly 300-tree increase from the approximately 250 trees the Master Planning Committee had designated would have a "major impact" on the area.

Officials said the additional trees were diseased, dead, or otherwise hazardous.

Jones ordered a reevaluation of the number of trees to be removed.  Boone, along with a small team of researchers and volunteers, with better equipment and a stricter standard of measurement, concluded that far fewer trees would have to be removed to maintain NASA's guidelines for the dish.

In an online statement, Jones, a former professional forester, said he was confident "the decision to remove trees in the immediate ridge line vicinity of the satellite dish appropriately balances the need for SAR-related research, recreational use, educational opportunities and safety."

"People enjoy these trails," Boone said.  He hopes they will continue to do so for years to come.

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