   |
||
|
 |
Newsroom | |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Tree-Sit in Berkeley Oaks Reaches One Year Mark 11-30-2007 For Immediate Release - Contact: Zachary Running Wolf 510-467-4482; Karen Pickett 510-548-3113 Press Conference 1 pm Sunday Dec. 2 During Commemoration Rally Campaign for Sacred Site and Old Oaks Becomes Longest Urban Tree-Sit Ever Berkeley, CA-A campaign to save a grove of mature coast live oak trees from University of California's (UCB) axe that blossomed when a couple intrepid activists climbed high into the branches and set up plywood platforms reaches the one year mark on Dec. 2. That year has seen lawsuits, police actions, national media attention, with community support for the trees and the tree-sitters growing progressively stronger despite UCB's massive PR campaign. There will be a rally on Sunday Dec. 2 from 12 - 6 pm honoring the efforts of those who have participated, particularly the tree-sitters and ground support, in the face of many arrests, double chain link fencing and barbed wire, and nighttime harassment using bright lights and generators. The rally will be punctuated by a press conference at 1 pm at the Grove, located in the 2000 block of Piedmont Ave in Berkeley, one block north of Bancroft Way. Native American activist Zachary Running Wolf, UCB student Aaron Diek and activist Jess Walsh spearhead the sit by scaling the trees on Dec. 2, 2006, and the campaign became iconic of protection of sacred sites and Native burial grounds in addition to the ecological issues, including the biological link the grove represents in the urban-wildlands interface. The site is also adjacent to the active Hayward fault. The tree-sit gave volume to the call for UCB to look to other sites for their planned sports training facility, rather than levelling the grove of oaks and building in an earthquake zone. Though the awareness around UCB development plans had been growing since July, 2006, the UC Regents approved the controversial plans on Dec. 5, giving rise to three lawsuits challenging UCB's planning documents, filed by the Panoramic Hills Association, the City of Berkeley, the California Oaks Foundation and other groups and individuals, filed during December, 2006. It is illegal under City of Berkeley ordinance to cut mature coast live oak trees. The grove became a magnet for community interest and events, with a tree platform press conference by legendary conservationist Sylvia McLaughlin, 90, joined by City Councilwoman Betty Olds, 86, and former Berkeley mayor Shirley Dean, 71 on Jan. 22. On January 29, Alameda Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller issued a temporary injunction barring UCB from proceeding with any implementation of construction plans. That injunction remains in place. A three week trial on the cases commenced on Sept. 19; a final decision from Judge Miller as to whether UCB's project can proceed is still pending. A summary timeline of the past year is available with this press release. Events over the months after the tree-sit went up included a 24-hour rotating community tree-sit that 80 local residents participated in, two nude photo shoots by famed photographer Jack Gescheit, a spiral dance, music and arts festivals, a joining with 1960's Free Speech Movement leaders in an action wherein 21 UCB students scaled the chain link fence to bring provisions to the tree-sitters, and a Thanksgiving delivery of food by local grandmothers. Frustrated by an inability to suppress the tree-sit through citations, arrests and harassment, UCB authorities have erected two perimeter fences now topped with barbed wire, and filed a harassment lawsuit on Sept. 11, giving them authority to arrest those supporting tree-sitters. There have been at least 150 citations and/or arrests of protesters over the course of the past year. ###  << Back to Press Release Archive | Latest Press Release | Newsroom Subscribe Get action alerts, updates, and other important news in your email inbox by signing up with your email address here: Learn more about events | See the BACHList FAQ |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH) is a project of the Ecology Center. Website design facilitated by Trees Foundation. © BACH |
