Forest+Removal+Letter+Final+Draft

To whom it may concern at the UVM Dept. of Grounds,

My name is Daniel Cardenas; I am an undergraduate student at UVM currently working on a project within the Greening of Aiken internship offered by the University to improve the Aiken Center’s energy efficiency. The reason I enjoy this internship so much is because it gives us, the students, a chance to do a different kind of work then what we would normally encounter in a conventional classroom setting. Instead of passing tests, we have the opportunity to reach out and work with the faculty to effect real change in the world around us. My group and I were excited to be a part of this and we began thinking of ways to leave a positive impact on the University. Our project’s goal is make the Aiken Center a true model of UVM’s cutting edge environmental savviness by helping it to have a net-zero energy efficiency. We can achieve this goal by adding trackers to the already existent solar power grid down at the Forest Service building (705 Spear St). The land at the Forest Service building has been used in the past as the site for funded research plantings in the 1980s which have long since been outdated. We are currently seeking your approval to remove these old plantings in collaboration with Burlington electric to create a small plot of land where we can carry out our project and install solar trackers. It has come to our attention that there are some issues concerning the neighbors of the forest service building and the removal of trees. We are more than willing to work with and respect the concerns of the community and keep the portion of the forest that can be seen from the road intact with tracker installment limited to the back of the property. We look forward to commencing our project further pending your approval of the research forest removal at the Forest Service building. Sincerely, Daniel Cardenas and the Aiken Net-Zero Interns