To those Friends who saw the article in the Roanoke Times this morning May 30, 2012 let me clarify a few things. First the area of the woods is 11.3 acres not 13.75 as reported in the newspaper. The area in the newspaper comes from the BioHabitats (Environmental Consulting Firm hired by the Athletic Department) report on Stadium Woods. The BioHabitats report includes land on the east side between the woods and town that is mowed by Virginia Tech. We do not (as would any forest biologist) include area that is mowed as part of the functioning forest. It does not have a leaf litter layer, tree regeneration or shrubs and lacks other ecosystem services that the forest provides.
Further, the area in the report is derived by tracing around the tree canopy from above. The large trees of Stadium Woods over hang much of the land on all sides that is not functioning forest. The area obtained by a ground survey around the forest edge conducted by John Seiler and a Ph.D. expert in forest surveying at Virginia Tech found the area of the forest to be 11.3 acres with a precision of 1/563 (the precision indicates we may be off by 1 foot every 563 feet).
Also the news report left out NUMEROUS groups (not the least of which is the Town of Blacksburg) who have passed resolutions in support of preserving Stadium Woods. Here is a complete list of those who officially support the woods.
Unfortunately the Roanoke Times continues to be inaccurate in updating the public about the woods and we will not post the article on our web site.
