Why Is the Urban Ecology Center Cutting Down Trees?

If you’ve taken a stroll through Riverside Park lately, you may have spotted Urban Ecology Center (UEC) staff out among the trees with chainsaws and loppers, and found yourself wondering, “wait, aren’t they supposed to be protecting nature?” It’s a fair question, and the answer is actually a beautiful example of what thoughtful land stewardship looks like.

The short version: sometimes, you have to remove a tree to strengthen the forest.

Jeremy Rappaport is the UEC’s Land Manager at Riverside Park, and he’s quick to point out that not all trees are created equal when it comes to the health of a forest. “We continue to remove invasive, non-native tree species like common buckthorn,” he explains. Left unchecked, invasive species crowd out native plants and disrupt the web of relationships that local wildlife depends on.

But invasive species are just one piece of the puzzle. The team also removes trees that pose a safety hazard to park visitors, and perhaps most surprisingly, they sometimes remove native trees that are simply in the wrong place. Riverside Park’s oak woodland, for example, is maintained through prescribed fire. Oak leaves burn readily and support that process, but maple leaves hold moisture and smother the flames. A native maple growing in the oak woodland, as lovely as it might be, can actually undermine the entire ecosystem.

The goal, Jeremy says, is to build what ecologists call “structural complexity,” which is a forest with a rich mix of young trees, old trees, standing dead trees (called snags), and fallen logs. “A natural system has a complex network,” he explains, “and that complex structure creates a bunch of different niches that our local organisms evolved to thrive in. At different stages of their lives, trees provide different ecosystem services, like food and shelter.” A forest where every tree is roughly the same age is actually an unhealthy one. This is a reality playing out in Riverside Park and across Wisconsin.

Biodiversity is another driving force. By selectively removing dominant species, the team creates space for new plantings, including species historically found south of Wisconsin that will be critical as our climate continues to shift.

All of this work* is guided by a strategic forest plan that the UEC updated in January 2026, built on tree inventory data collected with the help of dedicated volunteers. The plan charts a course for managing Riverside Park’s forests not just for today, but for generations to come.

So the next time you see the land management crew at work in the park, know that every tree they take down is in service of a thriving, resilient forest — one that will be there for Milwaukee’s people and wildlife long into the future.

*Funding for this tree work was supported by the Wisconsin DNR

‍

Donate to the Urban Ecology Center to ensure a thriving forest for future generations.