As temperatures rise in Gainesville and across the state, outdoor workers and students increasingly rely on trees for shade. But a UF plan to strip trees from campus will eliminate sun protection.
UF is planning to cut down roughly 30 trees for “Project MP07942,” a plan the university says would improve drainage in a flood zone east of Surge Area Drive near the Nuclear Field Building. The trees will make way for construction on flood and water infrastructure, according to a July presentation on the project.
The UF Lakes, Vegetation and Landscaping Committee unanimously approved the project in July. It’s unclear when the trees will be demolished.
Some students and Gainesville residents worry the project is putting outdoor workers at risk. A user under the name “G.T. University” started a petition against the tree removal July 27, which claims UF is creating more problems with this project “at the expense of the environment and vulnerable workers.”
Heat risk is only growing in Gainesville. According to the property assessment platform ClimateCheck, extreme heat days, or days above 95 degrees Fahrenheit, are projected to rise to 71 days per year by 2050 — up from seven per year in 1990.
The petition has received 156 signatures so far in favor of stopping the project and investigating possible violations against Florida’s Sunshine Law, which requires all government meetings to be public record.
Paul Geiger, 52, works for Underground Utility Contracting on campus, which is responsible for site work and utility installation. He said he wasn’t aware of the plan at all.
Geiger and his team of contractors are working on emergency electrical duct banks — a protective system for utility wires — in the center of campus. He said his team doesn’t remove any trees unnecessarily.
“Taking a tree out is the last resort,” Geiger said. “If they’re healthy live oak trees, we need to save them.”
Like many workers, Geiger said he relies on the trees around campus for shade, especially in the summertime when Gainesville temperatures peak.
The project includes the removal of five heritage trees, which are larger in size, according to UF’s tree mitigation policy, and provide the most shade to workers in the Surge Area and around campus.
The committee heard three other projects, including a plan to repair the Jennings Creek Headwall that would remove 69 trees, four of which are heritage. Other plans will remove 16 trees by the Dental Science Building and 25 trees by the McKnight Brain Institute Creek.
Several committee members received emails opposing the project, according to the meeting agenda. Ryan Klein, a UF horticulture professor who is listed as a member on the committee’s July meeting agenda, declined an interview on the subject, while the chair, Gail Hansen de Chapman, did not respond in time for publication.
All projects heard in the meeting require the replanting of trees on site. In the Surge Area, 33 trees are to be planted. That number is subject to change, according to the project deck.
Committee members also agreed on keeping hickory and swamp chestnut trees in the Surge Area project, establishing tree protection zones and implementing additional irrigation after the project is finished.
Contact Sofia at sbravo@alligator.org. Follow her on X @sofiab026.
