An old salvage yard could become a lung for the city, as Muncie officials discuss the possibility of turning what used to be Car Doctors salvage yard, on the southeast side of Muncie, into an urban forest.
An urban forest is, unlike a public park, a land with more species and trees where people will not be allowed to walk through, Malcolm Cairns, professor of landscape architecture, said.
"Urban forests are not structured for recreation, this is another kind of public land," he said,
President of the South Muncie Redevelopment Corp. is collaborating with Red Tail Conservancy and Cardinal Greenways to push the project forward. An issue, however, is the ownership of the property.
Art Hicks is more than $20,000 behind in property taxes. The property could be transferred to the South Muncie Redevelopment Corp. because Hicks' debt is owned by the county in the form of a tax certificate.
Views on the construction of an urban forest are mixed, as some believe there is more than just trees to it.
Cairns said an urban forest may take time to build, but it is necessary for the city.
"There will need to be necessary equipment and planning to build the forest," he said. "People have the naive notion that if you don't notice, a forest may appear, but there will be a need for soil, planting, nurturing. Nature won't come back without any help."
Although the idea of a forest in the middle of southeast Muncie sounds good, land manager of Christy Woods John Taylor said it will not be an easy task.
"I'm always skeptical when they say there is going to be an urban forest," he said. "A park I can understand, a recreational area and it can have trees, but it is difficult to have an urban forest made."
Taylor said the urban forest will need more than trees to be done.
"My definition of forest is an ecosystem with different plants and different species," he said. "It will take time to build a forest and this will take generations."
Taylor said Christy Woods could be an example of a forest. He said although some of the wildflowers were destroyed by hogs and had to be restored, the trees were already there and made an important part of the ecosystem.
Taylor said Christy Woods has been around since the 1940s and the trees were already there.
"The conservation of species are important," he said. "They need to consider that."
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