How disappointing and short-sighted that Clark College chooses to cut back, by a stunning two-thirds, its installation of native meadow. Clark was poised to be a local leader in ecological landscaping, a practice that has huge benefits not just for the pollinators and birds it supports but also for the reduced carbon footprint such landscaping practices model for the community. The lawn that the college will presumably reinstall requires steady inputs of water, machinery,
and labor that a meadow does not and makes no contribution to water conservation practices or pollinator support. Did the powers that be really do a thoughtful cost-benefit analysis to make this decision? Or offer to support the groundskeepers as they adapt to a new system of maintenance, which not only has environmental benefits for all but also health benefits for the groundskeepers? Kudos to the College for starting down the brave path of addressing the crisis in insect decline by installing a meadow on their campus and for showing that institutions can do more than plant and mow a lawn. So sorry they couldn’t maintain their leadership in this area.
Heather G. Gordon
Ridgefield
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