Rarely can a university offer students a location that joins asphalt and evergreen in harmonious… Rarely can a university offer students a location that joins asphalt and evergreen in harmonious marriage. When it does, students should care.

Often dismissing reality, admissions offices tend to advertise themselves as “locationally balanced,” appealing to 21st century high school seniors whose expectations — pertaining to lifestyle and environmental attitudes — are changing. The fact is, you can’t find breathtaking greenery in most city schools, and you can’t recreate in wilderness the sense of vibrant culture so special to urban communities.

Pitt, however, needn’t don any masks. Like few others, our school is situated only a few minutes from both cultural centers and natural wonders. Without question, Oakland throws man and nature into a mix that tastes just right.

But that’s not to say the balance can’t be improved, or that what we have now will stay here forever. Because what people don’t realize is that some of the surrounding natural beauty has degraded, and it’s demanding our continued support.

The issue here is Panther Hollow. Located behind South Oakland, this band of trees, streams and wildlife has long been a favorite destination for runners, bicycle riders and students who enjoy taking all they can from where they live. But years of rainwater runoff and neglect have caused it to degrade, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

All you have to do is take a stroll around the man-made Panther Hollow Lake to grasp the problem. With decaying logs jutting awkwardly out from the algae-infested water and uneven gravel paths that end and begin without notice, the lake attributes its name to only fresh-cut grass — though even that just exists in patches. Locals once flocked to the lake to fish and row boats, but now the conservancy calls the lake “unfit for human contact,” according to the Post-Gazette.

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy announced Monday that it received a $1 million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to try to begin to fix the mess. The money will go toward restoring the damaged Panther Hollow watershed, although the conservancy will formally describe how it will put the grant to use at a free public session in Phipps Conservatory Sept. 15.

As a student breathing the air and drinking the water of Oakland, attending this meeting is an act of informed compassion.

But a one-day meeting doesn’t do much to promote the community effort that is imperative to the survival of our backyard oasis. The meeting and the grant money mark only one step — though a big one — toward correcting Pittsburgh’s balance of city and wildlife. Thousands of young people who value the green space could do so much more in maintaining that delicate balance.

In essence, we students should do what we can to ensure Pittsburgh’s heritage for future Pitt students to enjoy. Great ways to get involved include cleaning up after outdoor events, helping restore nearby ecosystems and advocating for the numerous organizations working to keep our locale beautiful.

Or, you could just take a long walk.