Forest or meadow? Not everyone agrees

In Philadelphia's Andorra section, a thicket of forest gives way to Houston Meadow, a haven for two types of butterflies found nowhere else in the city, and a bevy of red squirrels, birds, and other small animals.

The Fairmount Park Commission, which says the meadow was much larger 50 years ago, has been cutting down tree species that started growing there relatively recently to expand the meadow from 15 acres to about 47 acres.

Fairmount Park managers say removing trees from 25 acres and thinning them on an additional eight will improve the habitat for some animals, but the plan has rattled some neighbors who prefer the shady canopy of leaves.

Helen Harvey, who has lived in the area all her 82 years, said the trees the park commission chopped down were all the more precious because so much forest already had been lost to housing and strip malls. As she looked out on the meadow, she recalled her childhood on a nearby farm, land now dotted with houses.

"There used to be millions of trees here," she said of her Andorra neighborhood as she walked through the new clearing. "I've watched them all disappear."

Clearing the trees cost about $180,000. The entire project, which includes planting new plants, will cost $400,000 and will be mostly completed this spring.

Deborah Saitta, another neighbor, said she thought the city would have been better off spending the money to improve the nearby Houston Recreation Center. She liked the woods better because they offered views of deer and foxes.

"They took down nature itself for what reason I don't know," she said. "There are a lot more important things to worry about than birds and butterflies."

Mark Focht, executive director of Fairmount Park, said the changes were consistent with good long-term management principles.

"At the park system, we try to balance all of our habitats," he said. "In this case there was always, historically, a very, very large meadow."

The difference between forest and meadow is much more than visual. Certain types of plants and animals require meadows to live, just as others require forest.

"Not everyone can live at the Four Seasons. We need lots of different types of environments," said Keith Russell, an ornithologist with Audubon Pennsylvania who estimates that at least 10 species of birds have left the meadow since the 1960s.

In earlier eras, fire would have burned down trees and helped maintain the meadows, but as people move in, fires are discouraged, Russell said. The disappearance of meadowland nationally has dramatically reduced bird populations, he said.

The sandy, acidic soil of Houston Meadow promotes growth of certain grasses and plants that attract insects that are popular meals for birds, reptiles, and small mammals such as foxes and voles.

Focht said he found it ironic that some of the people who disliked the changes probably lived in houses that trees were cut down to build.

The meadow is on the west side of the Wissahickon Valley, between Cathedral Road and Bells Mill Road. It is also called Cathedral Meadow.

Some neighbors support the plan to expand the meadow, including members of Friends of the Wissahickon, a 1,600-member group devoted to the park's preservation.

"It's an important wildlife habitat, and the expansion will allow many species that formerly bred there to come back," said Ruffian Tittmann, acting executive director of Friends of the Wissahickon.

The Fairmount Park Commission used old aerial photographs to determine the historic size of the meadow. One of the biggest goals is to create food, cover, and nesting areas for 24 species of birds, including yellowthroats and orioles. The park commission also hopes some birds that left the area after the meadow shrank will return, including the yellow-billed cuckoo and the broad-winged hawk.

Nels Johnson, director of conservation programs at the Nature Conservancy, said he could not comment on the project specifically. But promoting diversity of plant and animal species is a key goal for many conservation groups, he said.

"Habitats have gotten more and more limited and small," he said, "and eventually the populations of these species get to the point where they are lost totally."