The plan to sacrifice 82 big trees in Fargo’s Lindenwood Park for a concrete road and more parking should be scrapped. It’s a violation of the original purpose of the park. It’s a disturbing revelation that the park district’s priorities favor access by motorized vehicles over walking, cycling and the natural values of one of the city’s most treasured parklands.
Lindenwood is an urban oasis along a bend in the Red River in near south Fargo. It stretches north to south from 17th Avenue South to Interstate 94, with the river its east boundary and Fifth Street South its west boundary. It was established specifically because former park planners recognized the value of the tract’s riverine forest. The trees in the river’s floodplain, many more than 150 years old, define the park’s character, its attraction. Stands of elm, green ash, burr oak, willow, boxelder and many other species are vital to the park’s inviting environment throughout the year. Any diminution of the woodlands -- no matter how it’s justified -- undermines an environmental ethic that should be first priority for the city’s largest multi-use park.
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Letter: The real reason for Lindenwood Park's road problems The Park Board’s idea of closing the current road because of flooding is not the only reason for the deterioration of the asphalt; it has a lot to do with the heavy RVs.
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Despite pleas to save trees, Fargo park board will go ahead with new road through Lindenwood Park Loop road to be built in Lindenwood Park
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Letter: What is the Fargo Park Board thinking? If you want a faster road or more parking lots, hop on I 94 or go to the mall, but please don't rip out the trees.
The park is described as “multi-use” because, as the city’s largest, it can accommodate a multitude of outdoor activities and sports. Heavily used amenities include ball fields, hiking and cross-country skiing trails, picnic shelters, river access and first-rate children’s playgrounds. There is a generous area reserved for overnight camping. It seems, however, that park managers are pandering to “uses” in the multi-use doctrine that require more concrete and fewer trees. That’s wrongheaded.
The problem cited by the district is that the existing loop road, Roger Maris Drive, is low and floods when the river rises, and the asphalt has deteriorated. The road can be impassable for a short time in spring; crews have to clear mud and debris when water recedes. Sometimes the river rises in summer and the road floods again. The road is old; traffic and high water damage the pavement. Well, so what? A road closed for a week or two is a reasonable price to pay for preserving old growth trees.
The “improvement” plan calls for a new concrete road on higher ground, more parking spaces and relocating shelters. C’mon, folks, it’s a unique woodland park. The last thing Lindenwood needs is a concrete highway, more parking lots, and the increase in vehicular traffic that would follow the changes.
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Alas, let’s remember this is the same crowd that chainsawed several stately ash trees on the park’s west side to make room for a low levee that likely will never get wet. Moving the levee just a few feet into the park would have saved the trees, but it didn’t happen. If that sort of thoughtlessness prevails, 82 mature trees will be reduced to firewood and chips. You can’t fix a mistake like that.
Zaleski retired in 2017 after 30 years as The Forum’s editorial page editor. Contact him at jzaleski@forumcomm.com or 701-241-5521 or 701-566-3576.
