A Lawrence nature preserve that is home to deer, beavers and coyote got a little smaller last week.

Workers from Westar Energy cut down trees below transmission lines that went through the McGrew Nature Preserve, east of 15th Street and Wakarusa Drive.

“It’s a fairly small green space that’s already lost quite a few trees because of both beavers and the ice storms,” said park neighbor Myra Strother. “It seemed a crime to inadvertently cut these trees down.”

Strother, who lives on Cedar Ridge Court, said she moved to the location to be near Quail Run School and next to the natural area. Now, she can see the lights from buildings on 15th Street.

“We just really enjoy the nature of the trail,” she said. “I’m afraid the deer are going to be even more scared away now that they’re cutting big swaths through the area.”

Though Lawrence Parks and Recreation manages the 15-acre park, the power transmission lines stand on a Westar Energy utility easement.

“There’s a 100-foot right of way that they have for an overhead transmission line,” said Fred DeVictor, director of Lawrence Parks and Recreation. “Within that right of way, they have gone in and cleared the brush and trees, and they have the authority to do that.”

Westar trims or removes trees for safety and system reliability, said Doug Lawrence, vice president of public affairs at Westar Energy.

“At times it’s not very attractive, but we have to keep our focus on those two issues,” he said.

Trees next to power lines present opportunities for children to climb trees and touch the lines, or for the trees to blow over and break the lines, Lawrence said.

Tree-trimming is a continuous, year-round process for the company, he said.

“We really don’t want to trim trees at all, but if they do grow into lines, we have to cut them down,” he said.

Strother said the tree cutting didn’t seem necessary.

“None of the trees appeared to be anywhere near the power lines,” she said.

DeVictor, who visited the park Monday morning, said he was going to encourage Westar to plant native grasses underneath the transmission lines.

But tree-cutting around power lines is something that Westar is going to do every so often  even in a park, he said.

“We understand that it’s going to happen,” he said. “That’s their responsibility to keep them maintained.”

The park also is due for an upgrade to the walking path, DeVictor said. Next week, the city will take bids on a project to replace the asphalt path with concrete and replace some bridges that are covered during high water. The project will cost more than $100,000, DeVictor said.

The project will be paid for by the 1-cent sales tax for Lawrence Parks and Recreation and other community improvements, which was approved by voters in 1994.

DeVictor said his department’s goal was to keep the park as is.

“It’s a natural buffer between the residential neighborhood and the business park,” he said. “We are trying to keep that area as natural as we can.”