Tree-Sits at Berkeley Oaks Expand

Tree-Sits at Berkeley Oaks Expand

Zachary Running Wolf Back Up a Tree, UC students Rise Up

Berkeley, CA –Late Sunday night, January 7, 2007, native leader and mayoral candidate Zachary Running Wolf once again climbed into the redwood tree he had occupied last month, before being apprehended. At the time, his belongings were cut out of the tree and confiscated by law enforcement. The redwood tree is in a grove of oaks threatened with destruction by the University of California at Berkeley (UCB), and subject of a growing campaign to save the grove. At the other end of the grove from the redwood, a UC Berkeley student climbed into an old oak. Residents of a student housing cooperative have vowed to maintain a presence in the tree until the grove is protected.

UCB plans to level most of the grove, located between Piedmont Avenue and Memorial Stadium. to build a $125 million athletic training facility, while opponents cite viable alternative sites. The grove is the last significant stand of coast live oaks in the Berkeley lowlands, frequented by foxes, deer, raccoons, skunks and myriad species of birds and insects. With sudden oak death syndrome and development sprawl ravaging the oak population throughout California, this grove of healthy oaks, one 200 years old, is also important to the gene pool of coast live oaks in the area.

UC has persisted with their plans despite a unanimous City Council vote against the expansion, and overwhelming opposition from neighbors, students, environmentalists and Berkeley citizens. There are currently at least three lawsuits challenging the project pending, one brought by the City of Berkeley, another by the Panoramic Hills Neighborhood Association (PNA), and a third by the California Oaks Foundation, Save Our Oaks at the Stadium (SOS), Councilwoman Donna Spring, and other individuals. All three suits seek an injunction to stop work on the project until the cases are heard in court. Those requests will be heard in court this week and next: The PNA’s and Oaks Foundation/SOS’s requests on January 11 and the City of Berkeley’s on January 18.

On Dec. 2, the day of the “big game”, concerned individuals including Running Wolf started a tree-sit, maintaining a continuous presence in the grove ever since. Support for keeping the grove in tact has since grown rapidly, as hundreds of people from all walks of life have visited the grove and the tree-sits and many more organizations have come on board.

“This grove is important to the health and well-being of the trees, the animals and humans of this area”, said Aire, who has been helping with ground support. “What’s happened here over the last five weeks has been phenomenal, and has renewed my faith in the basic goodness of people, and the power of the earth to heal.”

“I can’t believe my University, which claims to be a leader in the fields of science and environmental planning would even consider destroying this sacred place”, added Naomi S., a student and member of the student housing co-op. “In my three years at Berkeley, this grove has been an important sanctuary for me and many others. It is a special place. Let’s keep it that way.”

###