A green mission

Abby Mulligan and Taylor O’Brien are on a mission.

The two 10-year-old girls want to keep the path next to their homes filled with trees. The pair became concerned when the city began the realign of the path near Hinton and Madeline Streets and needed to cut down a few trees to accomplish the goal. The girls say by cutting the trees the city harmed the natural wildlife that lived next to the creek.

"When they cut down all the trees they could have knocked down bird nests and disturbed all the animals," Abby said. "Another concern is the money being used. They could have moved the path over a bit instead of building a whole new pathway. They could have donated the money used to a charity."

Abby has spotted a number of animals during visits to the creek near her home. Otters, beavers, deer, bears and ducks have been witnessed around the area. She and Taylor often went down to the creek to fish and enjoyed seeing the variety of animals that often stop by.

While Abby can’t prevent the path realignment, she decided to raise money to purchase trees to plant near the path. She started the jar fundraiser last Wednesday and said they have raised more than $200, just shy of their $300 goal.

The young girls aren’t sure why the realignment of the path was needed, adding that they had never heard of any accidents taking place on the path and therefore didn’t believe safety was a legitimate reason.

"They are disturbing the environment, the natural beauty and the people that are living here," she said.

Taylor said they use the path everyday to get to the St. Bernard School they attend and became concerned about the safety of the birds that made their homes in the trees. She added construction closed off the creek and would interfere with animals trying to get to the water.

Werner Schwar, co-ordinator for city park planning, said the reason for the realign is to make the path safer, stop erosion, and to give the vegetation near the creek a better chance to grow. He added that they were thinking of planting new trees along the path but nothing had been planned yet.

"By moving the path further away from the creek, it will eventually allow the establishment of the natural habitat," Schwar said. "As for the tree removal, it wasn’t someone going out and hacking a path through the forest. We tried to pick the best alignment to minimize larger trees being cut down."

Schwar said he received only two calls about the realignment one of which was from Abby but added sometimes residents would voice concerns to construction workers when walking by the path. He said in general he hadn’t received too many complaints and most residents understood that the path was too close to the creek.

While understanding the concerns raised by Abby, Schwar said they tried to look a the "big picture" for what was good for long term alignment for the trail while keeping it safe.

People can donate for Abby’s fundraiser at Badanai Motors, Wendy’s Restaurant on Memorial Avenue and Waverley Library.