The following commentary by Don C. Willeke, a Minneapolis lawyer, founding chair of the Minnesota Shade Tree Advisory Committee, past chair of the National Urban Forest Council and secretary of the Minneapolis Tree Advisory Commission, was published in the June 3, 2015 issue of the Star Tribune.

Keep Mature Trees in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Star Tribune file  The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

The Walker and the Park Board are foolish to be clear-cutting.

The good news is that the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden at the Walker Art Center is in exciting times, with a new $10 million design funded in part by city and state money.

But the terrible news is that most of the large thriving trees in the Sculpture Garden are going to be clear-cut and replaced with new, small, expensive trees.

The handsome existing trees and the land beneath them are owned by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and thus by the citizens of Minneapolis.

To continue reading, click on the link to the StarTribune

 http://www.startribune.com/keep-mature-trees-in-the-minneapolis-sculpture-garden/306068421/