UC & FEMA Tree Removal in East Bay Hills - Public Meeting

UC Kaboomkeley at it again a higher education cutting down trees during Global Warming under the excuse of preventing forest fires. Let's not forget that UC cut down 18,000 trees in the Berkeley hills in the last 5 years and the most of the trees were not even on UC property but in the East Bay Regional Parks. The excuse was the same 'a fire hazard and non-Indigenous' which were Eucalyptus trees but with no replacement plan during Global Warming is Insane. Absolutely no public input was allowed and was found out they were hiring tree butchers to take them at night so the public would not be awakened to the Environmental crime. So UC is at it again waiting for the Summer break when most of the students are gone to attack Mother Earth. Finally, you can bet the place that they choose to consider a fire hazard is right where they want to develop the that particular site- Democratize the Regents

The university has already sent trucks with spray rigs up Centennial Way, from the Stadium to at least the Poultry building, then on the south slope of the Lawrence Hall of Science where busloads of children arrive every day, northside between Hall of Science to Grizzly Peak, the huge slope west of the Silver Space Science building , south side of Centennial Way where it meets Grizzly Peak at the employee parking, and at all three UC owned scenic views on Grizzly Peak downhill for thirty feet (worst looking scenic turnouts ever). I support manual removal of Eucs, but the University uses way too much round-up already, on central campus and in the hills.

Even though the meeting was run as a set-up not to get public comment, we forced their hand and stop delaying our only chance to make our voices heard. The FEMA is offering three (UC Berkeley, East bay Regional Parks and the City of Oakland) agencies monies for fire prevention (or to cut down trees during Global Warming) and as usual they did their foot dragging introduction but we got through their delays. We found out to no one surprise that UC Berkeley wanted to use the monies to clear the land for development in Strawberry Canyon (more dorms) which already took 18,000 trees without community input or knowledge. They did this by hiring a private contractor who snatch the trees with no replacement plan at night and also not on just the University land but in the East Bay Regional Parks. There were a few boo hoo rich people who voiced their higher than anybody else that their property should be safe guarded rather than consider the world plight of Global Warming. I love how rich people by land near the ocean or in a forest and expect natural things like Fire or Storms not to torch their precious stolen land which I pointed out. One rich person flipped me off while leaving the meeting which made my day.