Fate of Arboretum unknown

Rumors circulated around campus last week that construction was taking place near eight acres of land connected to the UCF Arboretum.

St. Johns River Water Management District ended protection of the location by approving a swap onto another piece of land. However, that does not mean that UCF has taken action to start building on the land.

According to Grant Heston, spokesman on behalf of UCF's Chief Financial Officer Bill Merck, the construction had nothing to do with the parcel of land within the Arboretum.

Students, alumni and environmental agencies have expressed their anger toward the administration's request to swap this protection to a new location of 17 acres of woods and wetlands. The eight acres of land that was just released from the easement is a portion of the 82-acre Arboretum that educates students and the community about nature and protects the environment.

This ongoing controversy has community members outraged over fact that this piece of land that provides many educational resources can now be potentially built on.

Heston said if UCF does decide to build on the land, there will need to be further approval beyond St. Johns.

"At this point and time there are no plans for the site and we will continue to listen to student and community input," he said.

Since September 2010, Samantha Ruiz, president of UCF I.D.E.A.S., an environmental organization that works toward addressing environmental challenges and finding realistic solutions, has teamed up with members of the Sierra Club's Central Florida branch, expressing their anger in regards to the university's request.

Hank Largin, communications specialist for St. Johns River Water District Management, said the executive director, Kirby Green, had taken note of the e-mails and letters that were sent in by the students and environmental organizations and that Green had personally visited the site before releasing the easement.

"This was a situation where the rules were set and UCF met the requirements to be approved to swap the easement," Largin said. "Our staff believes the land that the easement has been swapped with will now be protecting an ecologically-better piece of land that is bigger and holds valuable wetlands."

He said UCF has not requested any permits to St. Johns in regards to building on the land.

Sebastian Church, vice president of I.D.E.A.S., believes this newly-swapped land will never have the educational value that the eight acres within the Arboretum has.

"If the administration decides to build on this piece of land, it will ruin not only a home to many, but a strong sense of community — it is more than just a piece of land," Church said.

He feels it is hypocritical and unfair of the administration to turn around and take this from the students after all of the time they have spent both in and out of the classroom using the land for learning experiences.

"They are robbing us of that community that they promised us through everything that UCF is supposed to stand for," Church said.

He said although the administration claims to be hearing its students out, he sees this as just another issue where hierarchy comes into play.

"After the referendum was passed by Student Government by 87 percent in favor of keeping the easement on this piece of land, they are still doing this," Church said. "They are serving corporations and not the students of the campus."

Church said he and his fellow Arboretum supporters are going to continue to send out positive messages and continue the movement to prevent anything from being built on this valuable piece of the land within the core of the UCF campus.