The plan to remove thousands of trees at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson has environmentalists seeing red, but is it just the cost of going green?

Six Flags Great Adventure
(Courtesy: Six Flags Great Adventure)
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Park President John Fitzgerald says the benefit of virtually eliminating the facility's reliance on fossil fuels will not only benefit the company's bottom line.

"We all do recognize that CO2 emissions are the greatest threat to the environment that we all face," Fitzgerald said.  "And the Six Flags Solar Project will reduce the equivalent of about 225 or 226,000 tons of CO2 over the next 15 years."

Fitzgerald says if the trees in question were left in place, they would only remove about 9,600 tons of carbon dioxide over the same period, so there would be a net gain in terms of the overall amount present in the environment.  He says once the solar farm is completed and operational, it will provide almost all of the park's power - which he says would not be possible using solar panels in parking lots or on rooftops due to the lack of space.  As for the trees, Fitzgerald says they'll be back.

"We're looking at removing somewhere in the order of 19,000 trees and we plan on replanting 26,000 trees," Fitzgerald said.

In addition, Fitzgerald says about half of the trees scheduled for removal are not in very good condition, so replacing them with healthier specimens would improve the overall ecosystem.  The park already employs a professional forester who would oversee the replanting.

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