Last week, more than a dozen trees were felled near Rose B. Simpson’s “Seed” sculpture on the northwestern edge of campus. Three of the trees were diseased, but the morning of the removal the plan inexplicably expanded to include nearly a dozen more mature, healthy trees, as well as a still unknown number of specimens elsewhere across campus. The sculpture, the first by an Indigenous artist on Vassar College’s campus, was sited in the northwest corner to be within a more natural, wooded area, which the clearing disrupts. As a result of the clearance, students have become increasingly concerned about the Grounds Department’s other upcoming actions. Multiple students have reached out to Vassar Student Association (VSA) Sustainability Executive Genevieve Reoch ‘27 about other plans from Grounds. Grounds has not officially released most of these plans, and we therefore feel it is important to inform the community about what is happening behind the scenes.
The Grounds Department, which oversees landscaping and outdoor maintenance at Vassar, had intended to clear the understory along the Casperkill, including both sides by the Terrace Apartments and Wimpfheimer Nursery Center. This would have demolished the riparian buffer, the mitigative strip of trees and herbaceous plants alongside the stream, which helps to prevent erosion, flooding and toxic runoff into the water system.
Though nominally intended to prevent the takeover of the invasive porcelainberry, the mechanical clearance of the space would have been indiscriminate and likely would have led to the eventual death of the trees along the creek. In place of understory, Grounds planned that grass would be seeded and the area mowed, adding to their already extensive lawn maintenance load. Thanks to the efforts of concerned students, faculty and administration, the plan was postponed, and alternative maintenance strategies are being discussed by Grounds and the Arboretum Committee. The collaborative discussion currently in place is only due to increased clarity from the “Seed” tree clearance and suggests how much more productive a transparent grounds plan could be.
There have been discussions within Grounds about clearing upwards of forty trees around campus, including the Blodgett Hall beech and a few other iconic mature trees, purportedly due to their overhanging of roofs. Other trees that have been cleared recently, such as the declining pin oak by Gordon Commons, have been met by student frustration and confusion.
The fact that these claims have not publicly been confirmed only further underlines the need for greater transparency from Grounds. The lack of transparency extends beyond purely students—the co-chairs of the Arboretum Committee confirmed that they were until recently unaware of the majority of the upcoming plans, including the proposed clearance of the riparian buffer. Although there is, in theory, a process for routing clearance proposals through the Arboretum Committee, the process is not officially codified and has not been consistently followed. A formalized process that prioritizes informing both students and administration would likely alleviate many of the issues caused by the current system.
The uncertainty around tree clearances further stresses the importance of clear communication, as student anxieties could be alleviated by an upcoming projects list. Presently, students such as those who have been engaged in advocacy have been left without definite answers and have been ignored by officials within Grounds. Reoch confirmed that Grounds Manager Dean Jaeger had not responded to requests to meet or provided substantive information. Other students have also reported a similar lack of transparency from Grounds, which has made it more difficult to disseminate accurate information and reassure the student body about ongoing and planned projects. A lack of information makes it difficult for students to trust Grounds and conversely makes it more difficult for Grounds to undertake projects without student concern.
Other objects of student concern include the planned removal of the Rain Gardens between Sanders Classroom and New England Building, which could exacerbate flooding in the New England basement, as well as remove important habitat space on campus. Alternative plans, such as planting trees in the gardens to shade out invasive mugwort, seem more salient than converting them entirely to lawn. Further, there are concerns about herbicide use. Over 200 gallons of pesticides are used annually, and students have voiced concerns about the safety of lawns and mulched areas, where the majority of the herbicides are sprayed. While the Environmental Protection Agency notes that glyphosate is not known to be highly carcinogenic in humans, students have still voiced hesitation about using spaces that are so flush with chemicals.
Vassar’s arboretum is in crisis. A minimum of 396 tagged trees have been lost in the past five years. Of these, only about 15 percent have been replaced, according to data from Vassar’s Arborscope. When accounting for untagged trees, the amount lost is far higher, not to mention that the replacement trees are not mature.
Above all, it is difficult to address the concerns generated by the facts above, especially when there is no information about Grounds’ upcoming plans and very little inclusion of the student body in discussions around Vassar’s physical campus. For a space that is inhabited by and maintained, ostensibly, for the student body as a whole, there is precious little discussion that includes students. Conversely, it is more difficult for students to aid in the upkeep of the campus if they are left uninformed. Frustration at the prohibition of hammocks on most trees could have been mitigated had students been made aware that the prohibition was to prevent young or infirm trees from being damaged. It’s the view of the authors that just as Grounds has a responsibility to ensure that there are official processes and clearly communicated, concrete plans for upcoming major works, it is the responsibility of students to participate in and assist with the stewardship of this campus which we all inhabit.
Most of this is correct but the stuff with the rain gardens aren’t , they are brush hogged once a year and planting trees will not remove mugswort! Really the only way to remove mugswort is to mow it short and seed over it so the grass’s can out compete it. It will take a growing season or two than you can plant some trees .