Never mind them Woods (a poem for the Stadium Woods debate)

Info about the current debate over Stadium Woods adjacent to Lane Stadium on Virginia Tech campus and a proposed indoor sports facility can be found @ Save Stadium Woods.




The gist of this issue is the proposed construction of a sports facility and the potential for it to be constructed by removing a chunk of rare old woods next to Lane stadium. I think/hope the Stadium Woods will be preserved because it should be, but especially after the amount of attention and support it has garnered and the feasibility of building at an alternative site. But like they say, you never know, and you sure can't count your chickens before they hatch.

This is a satirical conversation between a group of people on the subject of Stadium Woods, the new athletics facility, and the decision making process.

Never mind them Woods

"No one is opposed to the facility and athletics makes a strong case for its need. However, most are opposed to placing it in rare, 300-year-old Stadium Woods." ~ a wise man

The Virginia Tech Master Plan says Stadium Woods is part of a
no-build zone, an
“Environmental and Cultural Greenway”
But football is different, right?
I mean we can bend the rules this once
It would be the first time, right Weaver?
We just need to pass the pigskin
in January and more importantly,
flaunt this facility to could be recruits
This could really make or break us

The quintessential question is
Must it be in this one spot?
No where else will do
Never mind cultural landmarks for future generations
Never mind alternative sites
We're keeping up with the Joneses
1 minute vs. 3 minutes of walking
equals less work
Never mind how we can understand this adds up
But not how other community values do too

Never mind some come here for other
reasons besides sports
Never mind many enjoy both sports and the forests
Never mind 5,700 signatures (and counting)
Never mind resolutions from
the Faculty Senate of Virginia Tech
the Arboretum Committee
the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Ecological Society of America
Support from the ROTC
Support from countless residents, children, mothers, grandfathers
Support from those who think a land-grant institution entails a land ethic
We're reaching out for more than tendrils of history

Never mind world class professors
with local funds of knowledge
Never mind accessibility
Never mind a commitment to environmental sustainability and stewardship
We are the masters of the universe
and we can pick and choose these things
We are wise, but thinking holistically is
more for ecosystems than expansion

Never mind the painfully thick irony
of this debate amidst Tree Campus USA recognition
Are we apart from nature or a part of nature?

Never mind them woods
there's plenty outside of town
Are we really arguing over a bunch of trees?
Never mind trees that were saplings before
our 1st U.S. President
Never mind 80 types of migrating birds
I mean really, birds
I want to see that 11-step button hook route perfected
what's a warbler ever done for me
they can find another pit stop

Never mind living classrooms
I hear there's an app for that
this
is
the face of progress

A living orange and maroon seasonal zeal of wonderment
Never mind old growth
We'll mitigate that with a few
new trees that are only 300
years younger
same species so no difference right?

"You take your hat off and give them
the respect they deserve."
No, we respect green of another kind
currency and turf
not hard-to-quantify value
of carbon sink and cleaning the air
Who cares about stormwater management, I thought
we were talking about football

Is this about impervious surfaces or impervious ears?
We can have world class forests and sports
Never mind the false dichotomy of tree huggers and football

Is smart growth an oxymoron?
Of course not, it's just not always
practical
Never mind integrated land-use management
we can teach it
but doing it, is quite different

Never mind extra costs to clean up Stroubles Creek, just a little stream that birthed this town

At least we can all agree
We are inventing the future
one way or another.