Great Op-Ed On UW-M's Deforestation Of County Grounds

Cheryl Nenn of Milwaukee Riverkeeper told it like it is:

Several weeks ago, contractors used TIF funds to remove almost all the high-quality vegetation on the site, including a large stand of oaks and pines in a ravine that provides vital site drainage, and a stand of 100- to 200-year-old oak trees east of the Parks Department - all to make room for the new "Discovery Parkway."

UWM and the city have justified this by saying that the DOT ordered the road further east; however, the "parkway" could have been better designed to wind around existing trees and honor "existing natural resource features and topography" as stated in master plans for the site.

Innovation Park is well on its way to becoming neither innovative nor a park. It is possible to create jobs and tax revenue and still protect the environment. UWM has talented faculty and students, but where are they?