March 5th e-mail to President Young

When President Young's receptionist (Lois) was asked how NAAC might learn the President's assessment of the benefits of the proposed right-of-way donation, she advised that we ask him by e-mail. NAAC then drafted the following e-mail message and sent it on March 5.

Date: Wed, 05 Mar 2003 07:46:08 -0500
To: ceyoung@ufl.edu
From: "Thomas J. Walker"
Subject: SW 24th Ave extension through NATL

Dear President Young:

The Natural Area Advisory Committee was disappointed to learn that on Feb. 20, Vice-President Poppell told the MTPO that UF will donate right-of-way for a four-lane extension of SW 24th Avenue through its Natural Area Teaching Laboratory.

As we wrote you on Feb. 5 (http://natl.ifas.ufl.edu/YoungLtr.pdf), the Committee is concerned about the effect such an extension will have on the academic usefulness of NATL. We are currently improving our documentation of NATL's academic value and the road's probable negative impact on it.

Because we do not understand why UF is facilitating a four-lane road through NATL, we respectfully ask you to describe how the road will benefit the University. We would then like to include your statement on the NATL website (http://natl.ifas.ufl.edu/), where we are making material relevant to the 24th Avenue extension available to all who may be interested.

Sincerely,
T. J. Walker
Chair, Natural Area Advisory Committee
(for the Committee, which on March 4 unanimously approved sending this e-mail)