Hello Mayor,

I recently passed the intersection of I-95 and Oakland park, perhaps outside your jurisdiction, and saw a sign saying "Greening Gateways". Obviously a lot of tax dollars was spent planting trees, and tax dollars will be spent continously maintaining the lawn, etc.

There has been much scientic research done our diminishing wildlife habitat, postulating that preserving 5% in parks will not be enough to save the world's biodiversity and that we need to create wildlife habitat in urban areas.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=creating+environments+for+wildlife+in+urban+areas&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart

I believe these large green areas around our highways should be returned to nature. This will

1) Save tax dollars mowing lawns
2) Create habitat for migratory birds and insects
3) Improve water retention and carbon storage

This is an easy to sell idea because it saves money and helps the environment,

thank you for your time,

tom friedel