<p>Does anyone have these areas in your city…not in the country areas, but in an urban setting</p>
<p>We have a big program in our city and its getting to be interesting</p>
<p>If you have one, let me know because I would like to know what other cities are doing</p>
<p>You can just name your city if you have the programs, but if you have any interesting information, etc that would be fun!!!</p>
<p>If you don’t mind me asking, what are Natural Areas Programs?</p>
<p>They are set asides in local parks for “native species”, which in itself is a controversy, who decides what is native, etc. THe idea to to save endnagered plants. ALl well and good, but in cities that can be very difficult. Especially if you have parks and gardens that have been established over 100 years</p>
<p>In our city, there are sections they want to return to pre-european time, like the 1830 or before, which is a lot of grass land. ANd that can involve taking down trees, removing bushes and shrubs, etc. And when planting the fragile native plants, areas are closed off for up to five years. </p>
<p>So needless to say, it makes for interesting debate.</p>
<p>There was a federal parks manager that wanted to cut down several hundred of our trees on federal land to return it to sand dunes, like it was in the Native American time. Well, sorry, but that idea bit the dust real quick. This land is in an urban settng by the way.</p>