A new treetop adventure course created by Go Ape! has been approved to come to Creve Coeur Park as early as May.

The course will feature 30 stations of challenges with swings, hanging obstacles and zip lines.

“We’ve decided to put the course into Creve Coeur Park because it has all of the right elevations necessary with good wooded forests, hills and valleys,” Tom Ott, acting director for St. Louis County Parks Department, said.

Ott said Go Ape!’s new course would help bolster the community’s economy.

“This proposal will create some full and part-time jobs, for a total of 12 new jobs,” Ott said. “It will also bring additional revenue by attracting visitors that will engage in secondary spending.”

He also said Go Ape! educates people about the environment.

“We don’t believe that this will have any effect on the environment,” Ott said. “Go Ape! will also create educational signage to teach people about the wildlife.”

Brian Schibler, junior, has been on a treetop adventure course in Costa Rica.

He said he expects that a lot of people will try out the new adventure course.

“The course could make a lot of money for the park because of all of the Boy Scouts that would go to it,” Schibler said.

According to the Go Ape! website, tickets to the park will cost $35 for kids between 10 and 17, and $55 for anyone over 18.

Despite excitement regarding the adventure course, the St. Louis Audubon Society has brought up some concerns about the construction of the attraction.

St. Louis Audubon president, Mitch Leachman, said the adventure course could cause problems for the birds of the area.

“The problem with the adventure course is not the actual activity, but its placement in Creve Coeur Park because it would disturb the tree canopies and mess with the ecosystem,” Leachman said.

He said cutting down of dead trees might degrade the birds’ habitat because that is where they make their nests.

The St. Louis Audubon Society lodged formal complaints of opposition to the council that approved the project since the park has been nationally recognized as an important area for birds.

Currently, Creve Coeur Park contains 200 species of the 400 in Missouri. The variety of habitats such as wetlands, forests, lakes and open fields create an environment for the many birds in the park.

“This proposal could introduce a new, everyday activity through the upper parts of trees where the birds make their nests, which could also disturb the food supply and feeding habits of the birds,” Leachman said.

After the decision passed in favor of Go Ape!, the Audubon Society made plans to discuss ways to mitigate the damage to the habitat of the birds.

“We will try to minimize the impact and try to restore other areas of the park, which will likely be the outcome of this proposal,” Leachman said.