Marilyn Remer, former city council member
To quote Aldo Leopold: "Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left." Saving a rare forest should be a "no brainer" and politics should remain out of the decision. Anyone can come up with alternates to justify their position. Save this rare natural God given treasure.

Angie Hong, Savage resident

The City of Savage council members need to understand that there is far greater value in seven contiguous acres of high functioning woodland than in 200 individual trees spread out across the entire city. To begin, a woodland ecosystem provides wildlife habitat for birds, insects, amphibians and mammals. 200 isolated trees on 200 lots in Savage do not. Secondly, seven acres of woodland create virtually no stormwater runoff to pollute local waterbodies. Seven acres of paved parking lot and compacted ball fields, on the other hand, could create 1.3 million gallons of stormwater runoff per year, which will then pollute local lakes and rivers and increase sediment loss due to erosion (Based on estimates from the Ramsey Washington Metro Watershed District). The increase in stormwater runoff will also create a substantial financial cost for the city, which will be required to install storm sewers and retention ponds to control the runoff.

Considering the convenient location of the woodland, a better option for the high school would be to use the area as an outdoor classroom. If the council is concerned that people cannot see and use the woods, a small trail could be cut to allow students access to the area for biology classes and research projects.

As to the need for additional parking, a two-story ramp would allow ample parking without devouring more land.

There are any number of sites for a couple ballfields (154th Street has many nearby options) and building a retaining wall seems such any easy choice - please resist the temptation to see money ahead of the right thing to do, please save the trees.