On Dec. 19, 2022, construction crews began cutting down trees on and near the Urban Farm for construction of the second phase of the Knight Campus, according to a post from the Save the Urban Farm Instagram account.

Save the Urban Farm is a student-led initiative combating the changes made to the farm by the construction of the Knight Campus, according to their website.

“There was a lot of shadiness of removing the trees. They weren’t supposed to be removed until later,” Save the Urban Farm member Jenna Witzleben said.

The removal of the trees began at 4 a.m. with the use of floodlights, according to both Save the Urban Farm and Harper Keeler, the director of the Urban Farm Program.

According to a timeline for phase two construction that Save the Urban Farm received via a public records request, the trees were set to be removed on Jan. 25.

Prior to the removal in December, Save The Urban Farm sent messages to the Board of Trustees, Campus Planning and other university administrators to try and save the trees and parts of the farm, according to Jenna Witzleben.

“Attempts to email were disappointing. Scripted responses from the Board of Trustees were offensive to receive back from heartfelt email,” Witzleben said

Keeler said the new staging area comes with a great cost to the student experience at the Urban Farm.

“Desecration. Sacred space has been desecrated. It’s painful,” Keeler said.

Keeler said the farm provides a place for students to learn how to grow, harvest and manage a farm with hands-on experience.  The farm also provides nearly 20,000 pounds of food each year directly to students through the Student Food Pantry, he said.

The area of the Farm known as the “Back 40” will no longer be open for use, Keeler said. The back 40 is a large portion of the farm that includes raised beds, native trees and small orchids. 

“They are using it to stage materials,” he said.

Along with the Back 40 now being used for construction, many trees were removed in and around the Urban Farm, according to Keeler.

Keeler said some of the trees were decades old and native to the Willamette Valley. Heritage trees planted when the Urban Farm was first constructed were also removed, he said.

According to the City of Portland’s website, heritage trees are trees that are considered not replaceable and of a certain maturity and gene pool native to the region.

UO spokesperson Kay Jarvis said the university would pass on interview opportunities and statements regarding Knight Campus phase two construction.

Jarvis said the university allocated $1 million to the construction of a new Urban Farm riverside location. She said the money was allocated to the College of Design.

From there, she said the money will be distributed to Campus Planning and Facilities Management, who will oversee the developmental work.

Working with UO Design and Construction Owner Representative Denise Stewart, Keeler said they were able to facilitate the transplanting of 18 mature trees on the farm.

Keeler said that keeping students’ morale up has been hard and that students are saddened by destruction.

“One of the only things helping them keep them hopeful is the Riverside Urban Farm,” he said.