Berkeley - University Plans to Cut Native Oak Grove

Let's do it. Not like trees in Berkeley are the only ones that are sacred, but with all those buildings, they can't find a dual-usage building? We need to save our last remaining strips of green in this world.

Please keep us posted about the situation.

For thousands of years whole eco-systems were supported by the native oaks. Now they are threatened not only by man, but by the ravages of sudden oak death, which some speculate is the result of global warming. To destroy a healthy mature grove is unconscionable.

Thanks to the Sierra Club and Julia for standing up for the trees!

There are thousands of oak trees on campus. If you know the area, you would understand that the impact of the renovation on the local flora is very minor.

There are also hundreds of students and staff who are using a very unsafe structure (inside the stadium) every day and are in mortal danger should the big one hit.

We taxpayers know the area very well and we love all of the trees in the area. This is Ronald Reagan's old line as governor: if you have seen one redwood, you have seen them all. Not true! The trees hold the hill in place and much needed peaceful ambiance for all. As to the worthless stadium, if it is so unsafe, it should simply be torn down and more trees, flowers and grass planted. The students at UC Berkeley have more than enough athletic facilities; they do not go there to play; they go there for an academic education with our tax dollars. This whole "stadium renovation" scheme is nothing more than a palm-greasing racket for the friends of the UC Regents, at taxpayer expense, a very old game. As to the worthless football team, it should be abolished immediately. That would improve UC Berkeley's academic standing and save the University a lot of money better spent on the rest of the university, including the other cheaper, safer sports. The entire grove of trees that stretches from this oak grove next to the International House down the hill to the west border of UC Berkeley, on both sides of the creek, is a treasure for all of us taxpayers to enjoy forever. The UC Regents should spend our tax dollars building more university campuses statewide, promoting open admissions for all over age 18 and/or who complete high school, with or without the diploma since this diploma is now attached to a contrived test, and eliminating all fees so that university education is free for all who live here.

Is there a EIR issued on this? Are there any public hearings scheduled?

Is there a legal team working on this?

The Oaks are trying to be cut to make way for a 'Student Athelete High Performance Center' (SAHPC from the EIR). Alternative locations exists, but it's important to mention that cutting the oaks and the SAHPC is just part of a much larger UC Berkeley plan to expand the entire SE corner of campus;

1) add a 900 parking space parking garage beneath nearby Maxwell (astroturf) field
2) build a "Law/Business Connection" building for corporate conferences and conventions
3) kick the freshmen boys out of Bowles Hall and turn it into a luxury hotel
4) THEN retrofitting the stadium for earthquakes

all for the intention of boosting revenue.

UCB currently doesn't have the $ needed to retrofit the stadium, so they are going to build new structures instead.

remember the fee hikes and salary scandals? still going on. as much as I like football, Coach Tedford reports he earns $153k (base salary) per year, in 2004 he ACTUALLY earned over $1.5 M in bonuses and benefits. that made him the highest paid UCB official that year.

Tedford makes $1.5 mill/year but he brings the University over $15,000,000 in additional net revenues due to the fact that Cal has become a superior football program under his helm. The proceed go to fund 27 teams on campus, thousands of student-athletes. Your economic argument has no legs. California taxpayers should be thankful to have Tedford coach at Cal.

There is no "UC palm-greasing" going on, this has been a competitive open bid, like all UC construction contracts. And the money is raised privately, alumni will be paying for the $120M required. Maybe the football team is worthless to you, but is is very important to the campus community, and a big net plus from the taxpayer's perspective. Why not accept this fact, instead of imposing your misanthropic values on the campus community?

The only real taxpayer waste is the millions that will be wasted over potential delays from lawsuit by the obstructionists, money that will go to lawyers instead of helping the campus community.

How is UC greedy for building safe facilities to its staff, student-athletes and for nearly half a million fans that visit Memorial Stadium every year?

How can you deny that the campus community at large is overwhelmingly IN FAVOR of this project? Over 10,000 students attend football games every year on campus. Why do you want to impose your own values on those of the campus community? The campus is for the students, not for some dogmatic freelance activists who are motivated by hatred and who lack fundamental critical reasoning. You have no right to impose your dogmatic vision on the campus community, the University should do what is best for the safety and needs of its students and staff.

The ecological argument of "the trees hold the hill in place" is BS, the hill around the stadium was originally bare. The are no soil stability issues with that narrow strip.

klimber: almost all of the new parking spots will be burried under Maxwell Field. Space for ground-level parking spots will actually diminish and be replaced with tree-lined pedestrian plazas. That is a good thing IMHO, and probably in yours too if you have the honesty to put your biases aside.

I'm against turning Bowles Hall into a campus residence for visitors though.

berkeleyite- I'm not against the CAL football program. I am against the UC administration that acts like it is above the law. you are entitled to your opinion, but your comments won't get a lot of support here from indymedia. it's all about the $, and the majority of the students won't benefit from the revenue generated from these massive construction projects. there are 3 main street accesspoints to maxwell field, 4 if you count Centennial Drive. If you know Berkeley, you know Gayley and Piedmont jam up all the time as it is. adding 900 spaces for parking doesn't promote public transportation or bicycling or walking. it promote lazy american diabetics and oil-wars. stop justifying the stupidity of UCB's construction plans.