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Santa Cruz has an exciting opportunity to create a riparian forest downtown in San Lorenzo Park, says local environmental activist Barbara Riverwoman. The park, in the area known as the Benchlands, could be a local treasure and “an ecological jewel of our downtown,” she writes. City staff, however, advocate cutting the park into three, using the middle for pop-up sports and events and using the edges for the forest. “I don’t think it takes too much imagination to understand why pounding music, flying frisbees and active sports events would defeat the very reason for the forest’s existence, for both wildlife and human beings,” she says. A Parks & Recreation Commission meeting is set for Monday. The commissioners’ recommendation then goes to the city council.