A land management philosophy called restoration advocates killing deer and other wildlife, cutting down healthy trees, using herbicides and conducting large scale burns on Chicago Park District and Cook County Forest Preserve District sites in our area. Restorationists want to remove existing wildlife and vegetation on public land to create conditions that they believe were present before European settlement. As local residents, natural areas users and members of the community at large, we find this philosophy historically, scientifically and ethically suspect and we oppose current practices for both their environmental impact and their threat to human health and safety. We call for an end to restoration practices on affected sites in our community and the ongoing preservation of trees and wildlife in our natural areas.