The University of Florida is planning to demolish an on-campus conservation area known as Graham Woods — a project that would chop down roughly 1,000 trees in a mini-forest favored by nature lovers and bicyclists. 

The university’s peculiar process for holding public meetings, which either by design or in practice discourages citizen participation, is also drawing scrutiny. 

It is part of a larger, statewide, grassroots pushback over important public university decisions, ranging from environmental issues to selecting new university presidents, being made in a secretive fashion. 

This month’s meeting of UF’s Lakes, Vegetation and Landscaping Committee offers an example. The meeting was held on Zoom, but the link to the Zoom was not publicly posted. 

Critics were required to speak in person at a university conference room tucked away under UF’s football stadium — even though the actual meeting was happening virtually.   

“It does seem like an odd way to engage with the public,” said Sarah Younger, a member of the conservation committee for the Suwannee-St. John’s chapter of the Sierra Club. “You’re now just there with a screen, with a Zoom call. It’s kind of a bizarre way to conduct a meeting.”

UF’s requirements could also run afoul of state law, according to Raul Gastesi, a South Florida lawyer who serves as city attorney for Doral, and town attorney for Miami Lakes. 

‘Reasonable’ accommodations

In an interview with The Florida Trib, Gastesi said public meetings are required to provide “reasonable” access for the public to participate. 

“Making them drive to the university, just to go into a room, just to appear on Zoom, sounds unreasonable,” he said. 

The published meeting agenda did not provide the Zoom meeting link. Under Florida’s Sunshine law, which became a model for the nation, the public is supposed to have a guaranteed right to attend all government meetings — including meetings held by Florida’s 12 public universities. 

One unidentified member of the public somehow obtained the Zoom link and attempted to participate but was left stuck in the online “lobby,” a virtual waiting room, and never allowed to enter, according to environmental activists.

Ultimately, the committee, which makes recommendations to the UF administration, delayed a decision on the 7.5-acre Graham Woods property. The committee is expected to take up the matter again at its next meeting, on March 5.    

Younger, of the Sierra Club, said UF has demonstrated a larger pattern, shown over time, of excluding the public from key decisions.

“First off, they’re not highly transparent; they do not spend a lot of time letting others know what they’re planning to do,” Younger said. 

She added: “They have to be good neighbors. They are probably the largest property-holder in our county.”

Private ‘retreats’

UF has been previously criticized for excluding the public, and allegedly violating state law, by holding private “retreats” for the university board of trustees,  during which official university business was discussed. 

According to news reports by WUFT, when holding these “retreats” for trustees, the university would disclose the “date, time, and city where it’s meeting privately — but not the actual location.”

University records, obtained by The Florida Trib, show that other UF panels, such as a historic-preservation committee, have rejected requests from the public to participate.

“Due to previous problems with meeting disruptions, the Zoom link is only provided to committee members and presenters,” wrote Linda B. Dixon, the university’s planning director, in a Jan. 21, 2025, email to a student who requested Zoom access. “We also use the waiting room feature on Zoom to ensure the security of the meeting.  Members of the public are invited to attend the meetings in person.”

The landscaping committee’s concerns about decorum are reflected in its lengthy code of conduct, attached to the agenda, which specifically bars “obscene, profane or vulgar language,” “refusal to leave the podium,” “outbursts of approval or disapproval,” “creating noise in sidebar conversations,” “jeers or heckling,”  “conduct creating danger to another’s property or person,” “provoking or engaging in a fight” and “violent or tumultuous conduct.” 

Email records show that a student government senator previously raised concerns about the committee’s transparency.

A year ago, on Jan. 9, 2025, Max Banach, then a student government senator, asked the university why the agenda for that day’s meeting, to be held roughly three hours later, was not viewable online. 

“My understanding was that agenda materials are to be posted at least 24 hours prior to a meeting,” Banach wrote.

In an interview with The Florida Trib, Banach said the university posted the agenda online shortly after receiving his email, although he did not receive a response to what he wrote. 

Banach, who is now a graduate student at UF, said the university demonstrates transparency on some issues, but with others, “they prefer to operate a little bit more opaquely.” 

“I don’t think the (landscaping) committee is acting in a way that properly allows for the UF community to engage in these decisions,” he said.   

University officials say the demolition of Graham Woods is environmentally necessary, and will improve stormwater efficiency and water quality, while correcting significant land erosion that “has created steep and hazardous drop-offs.”

“The project will protect the ecological health of the watershed and create a safer, more sustainable environment for the entire campus community,” said Blake Trauschke, the university’s assistant public affairs director, in a statement to The Florida Trib. 

Trauschke did not respond directly to questions about the UF committee not providing Zoom access to the public. 

Trauschke noted that roughly 220 of the trees slated for removal are “invasive,” and “many others,” he said, are in poor condition. The UF statement did not mention the 67 “heritage trees” that would be cut down. Heritage trees are highly-desirable trees that are recognized for their age, size, or historical significance, among other factors.

Following the demolition of Graham Woods, UF says it will plant 447 native trees, and install educational and recreational trails, although that will not immediately replace the expected loss of tree canopy. 

Graham Woods is indirectly named after the student dorms, Graham Hall, that were formerly located south of the woods, according to UF. Klein Graham, after whom the dorms were named, was a university employee who worked as the UF business manager and treasurer of the athletic association.  At the time of his retirement in 1948, he held the longest continuous service record of any member of university staff (42 years). 

In more recent years, Graham Woods has become a favored location for mountain biking, as shown in a YouTube video from 2012. 

The woods are also home to dozens of animal species, according to university records. Those animals include the American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Mourning Dove, Bronze Frog, Florida Box Turtle, and Gray Squirrel.

University records show that two uncommon plant species have been spotted in Graham Woods — Jack in the Pulpit and Florida Yam. And there’s an endangered plant species growing there, too: Florida Milkvine.

At UF’s latest Lakes, Vegetation and Landscaping Committee meeting, faculty who serve on the committee said the planned destruction of the woods would represent an unprecedented removal of trees from the Gainesville campus.

UF’s student newspaper, which covered the meeting, quoted one committee member, Lisa Strange, describing the woods’ looming destruction as a “massive project” that is “overwhelming.”

But for a member of the public who simply reviewed the committee’s published agenda, the importance of this issue might have been lost. The agenda described Graham Woods as a “minor” item. 

Committee members did not respond to email inquiries from The Florida Trib.  

On the morning of the Zoom meeting, held on Feb. 5, Kristin Rubin, a Sierra Club member, decided to attend and read a statement from the Sierra Club to UF officials. 

30 miles to the virtual meeting

Rubin drove 30 miles to the football stadium and searched for the designated conference room, located under the bleachers, where the public is allowed to watch the video feed and possibly speak.

Initially stumped, she finally saw a UF employee walking by, who guided her to the proper location. 

Once inside, Rubin was joined by a handful of people, including a university police officer, and the committee members’ faces on a Zoom computer screen. 

Rubin noticed that roughly halfway through the meeting, someone from UF said the discussion needed to be recorded, and so the Zoom “record” button was belatedly turned on.

Another odd moment: the committee held its vote on Graham Woods (the vote to delay) before inviting public speakers to weigh in. The “public comment” period came after the vote. 

Once Rubin delivered her statement, imploring UF to do more to save the trees, she said she noticed that some committee members seemed supportive of the Sierra Club’s position.

But Rubin remains pessimistic about the woods’ future. 

“Hope is a grand thing,” Rubin said. “History shows that, most likely, they will cut down the trees.”

Michael Vasquez is an investigative reporter at The Tributary. He can be reached at michael.vasquez@floridatrib.org.