Chronology

Chronology of the UNB Woodlot (1800 - Present)

The following chronology provides an outline of the UNB Woodlot development process. This timeline endorses the need for a moratorium on development, a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and meaningful public participation.

July 18, 1800. The UNB Woodlot was granted to the College of New Brunswick (now University of New Brunswick) by King George III in 1800. This land grant was originally for 5950 acres and was entrusted forever to the College. (http://www.lib.unb.ca/gddm/data/panb/search.php).

1946 – 1988. Over $103 million of public funds is invested in capital costs to build infrastructure for forestry and wildlife management teaching, including the Maritime Forest Ranger School, the Hugh John Fleming Forestry Centre, and the New Training Sawmill.

December 1989. A City of Fredericton Environmental Technical Report for the Municipal Plan states that the Woodlot, consisting of numerous wetlands, is an environmentally sensitive area and should not be developed.

2001-2004. Very limited faculty & public participation is initiated for the UNB Woodlot Implementation Plan. Neither the Faculty of Forestry nor the Maritime School for Forest Technology (the “Ranger School”) is asked to contribute to a management plan. UNB abruptly cancels its open public forum meeting.

Oct. 2004. UNB President publicly reveals the UNB Woodlot Implementation Plan. One of the main reasons presented for developing the woodlot is “UNB is faced with development pressure”. The Implementation Plan includes a strategy consisting of a patchwork of commercial and residential development areas. Fragmentation of the woodlot and the consequent negative impacts on the continuity of wildlife corridors and water conductivity between wetlands are not addressed.

May 2005. Despite a long history of doing so, UNB ceases publishing its policies, meeting agendas and meeting minutes of the UNB Board of Governors.
(See http://www.unb.ca/secretariat/Board/Board%20Policies/Index.htm.)

August 22, 2005. UNB Board of Governors signs a Development Agreement with the City of Fredericton for the construction of a major 4-lane road (Knowledge Park Drive) through the UNB Woodlot. Knowledge Park Drive is projected to have more than 15,000 car trips per day.

Oct 7, 2005. Home Depot announces construction has started on a new store. It becomes the first development in the UNB Woodlot and is built within a stone’s throw of the 3.5 hectare Ducks Unlimited Corbett Brook Marsh. No Environmental Impact Assessment is conducted, and as a result, no public consultation is initiated.

November 10 – December 31, 2006. With the beaver as its symbol, UNB commissions the killing of 24 beavers with underwater conibear traps.

June 29, 2006. Official opening of Home Depot in Corbett Centre, a 95,000-square foot store. Participating in the ribbon-cutting ceremony was John McLaughlin, President of the University of New Brunswick.

June 2006. City of Fredericton donates $1.5 million to UNB’s Forging Our Futures campaign, over a ten-year period starting in 2009.

July 2006. UNB signs over a 99 year lease of 45 acres to City of Fredericton for $1 dollar/year. This lease will be renewable at the request of the City.

February 28, 2007. NB Minister of Environment approves the destruction of two wetlands for additional Corbett Place retail outlets near Knowledge Park Drive. Approval is also granted for an unspecified impact on the large Larch Swale across the highway from this development.

April 2007. Friends of the UNB Woodlot's e-mails and phone calls to UNB Secretariat requesting a presentation to the Board of Governors go unanswered.

April 22, 2007. On Earth Day, over 120 concerned citizens rally in the UNB Woodlot.

April 25, 2007. EIA is approved for the destruction of two wetlands for a portion of Knowledge Park Drive closer to the Corbett Place development.

May 2007. SmartgrowthUNB.ca is launched by a group of concerned citizens to accept pledges of money from UNB alumni, students, and other supporters. These funds are not physically collected but are pledged to be donated to UNB if it consents to a Comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment of the Woodlot.

May – August 2007. Construction cuts a large, direct swath (60,000 square meters) through the UNB Woodlot, a provincially-designated wildlife refuge. This is done without a forestry management plan, wildlife management plan, or comprehensive land use plan in place.

July 3, 2007. NB Minister of Environment acknowledges that an EIA was not conducted for Home Depot.

July 10, 2007. UNB signs over ownership of Knowledge Park Drive land to the City of Fredericton.

Oct 2007. UNB is informally challenged as to its legal right to lease or sell the woodlot. It publishes an article in the Fall 2007 UNB Alumni News incorrectly attributing a quote regarding the use of UNB's Woodlot to the original 1800 charter granting the land. It later (Winter 2008) publishes a correction that the quote should have been attributed to another source, but will not name this source.

October 23, 2007. UNB Administration refuses to comment about lethal beaver trapping documented by the NB Department of Natural Resources. (The Battle for Beavers: Environmental group outraged after UNB kills ‘nuisance’ beavers. The Aquinian, St. Thomas Student
Newspaper, October 23, 2007).

November 2007. Friends of the UNB Woodlot’s invitations (both e-mails and letters) for UNB officials to attend the first public meeting of the Friends of the UNB Woodlot go unanswered. (Earlier e-mail and phone call to UNB Secretariat requesting a presentation to the Board of Governors go unanswered.)

November 22, 2007. Friends of the UNB Woodlot holds their first public meeting.

January 2008. In response to inaccurate claims by UNB Administration in their 4-page article in the Fall 2007 UNB Alumni News, The Friends of the UNB Woodlot submits a Letter to the Editor. This letter appears in the UNB Alumni News in Winter 2008 but is heavily censored.

February 8, 2008. UNB refuses offer of a donation to cover the costs of pipes and hardware necessary for a humane beaver management program. As they migrate from up to twenty miles away, it is anticipated that beavers will once again move into the Woodlot and will be killed.

March 2008. Friends of the UNB Woodlot’s invitations (letters) for UNB officials to attend the second public meeting of the Friends of the UNB Woodlot go unanswered.

April 3, 2008. Friends of the UNB Woodlot holds their second public meeting.

June, 2008. Friends of UNB Woodlot is at a booth in the Farmer’s Market each Saturday morning raising awareness of the UNB woodlot issue. In one morning, concerned citizens sign and address over forty-five separate letters of protest to UNB’s Board of Governors.

June 26th, 2008. Faced with UNB’s continued refusal to address woodlot concerns, Friends of UNB Woodlot write and circulate a Press Release both locally and nationally calling for UNB to initiate a humane beaver management program and a Comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment.

June 27th, 2008. A public protest against woodlot development is attended by 25 concerned citizens who gather in front of UNB’s gates on University Avenue. After the protest, Global Television films the group as they walk up with Friends of the UNB Woodlot to King’s College to deliver letters to President John McLaughlin, the Board of Governors and UNB Alumni Council.

June 27th – July 3, 2008. The woodlot issue gains media attention with a number of stories, interviews and Letters to the Editor appearing on CBC Shift, Global News, Daily Gleaner and The Telegraph Journal.

June 30, 2008. In response to a (blatantly misleading) public statement by UNB administrators (Daily Gleaner, June 28th, 2008) that the public consultation process for woodlot development was fair and open, two Friends of the UNB Woodlot members – one of whom is a UNB alumnus - present a request for information to the UNB’s Capital Planning and Property Development department. When they ask for confirmation of receipt, they are denied this request and threatened with UNB security.

Present Day: Although to date UNB has approved the development of 270 acres of the Woodlot, it states that half of its total land will be developed over the coming years (see http://www.unb.ca/lms/woodlot/). By not presenting a full plan for development of this area (which amounts to over 1500 acres), and instead parceling off land in a piecemeal fashion, UNB can avoid triggering a Comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment.