December 2, 2003

Jeffrey Lehman
Office of the President
160 Day Hall
Campus

Dear President Lehman:

As faculty members at Cornell, we write in hopes that you might reconsider the plans for establishing a parking lot in the Redbud Woods area of the University Hill Historic District. We are persuaded by the arguments (attached) put forth by the Redbud Woods Working Group, a coalition of Cornell students, faculty, and Ithaca residents, opposed to these plans.

The issue is one of values and priorities. While we do not deny that Cornell may be in need of additional parking space, we feel that it would be ill-conceived to remedy this problem by destroying a strategically-placed patch of greenery, whose combined environmental, aesthetic, and historical value well exceeds any benefit that could accrue from its transformation.

The Working Group has set forth its argument for preservation of the Redbud Woods in a separate document, and we find ourselves very much in sympathy with their reasoning. As residents of Ithaca, we view with concern the gradual loss of open space in the neighborhoods surrounding the University, and on the Campus itself. The destruction of the Redbud Woods could only be taken as indicative of indifference on the part of the University to the implementation of conservationist practices in its own backyard. As Cornell expands its educational commitment to environmental principles, it should do everything possible to remain true to its ideals in its bids to expand.

By preserving the Redbud Woods, Cornell would be setting a very positive example.

We sincerely hope you will give serious consideration to this appeal.

Yours sincerely,

Thomas Eisner
J.G. Schurman Professor of Chemical Ecology

A. Carl Leopold
W. H. Crocker Scientist Emeritus