The Cornell Plantations Welcome Center, which was dedicated last weekend, has a chance to earn the highest sustainability ranking from the LEED.

A restoration project has begun that will refurbish and ultimately reopen the Cornell Plantations’ Cascadilla Gorge Trail. According to the University’s Facilities Services website, the total budget for the project will range between $250,000 and $500,000. The restoration is included within the trustee-approved capital budget as a General Purpose Maintenance and Infrastructure Project.

The Cornell Plantations is offering a $250 reward for information leading to a conviction of anybody involved in the destruction of a Bosnian pine tree valued at $3,800. According to a press release, a plantations staff member of the reported that the tree, located in the Watkins Pinetum area of the F.R. Newman Arboretum, had been cut down.

It appears that the perpetrators used a hatchet or an ax to cut the tree down and then dragged it to the edge of the road, where it was found. The incident took place sometime between Nov. 20 and the following morning.

Plantations health care coordinator Donna Levy explained that each year the University takes actions to prevent people from taking trees from the plantations to use as Christmas trees.