Fence threat energizes tree sitters

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Feb 16, 2007 | by Kristin Bender

BERKELEY -- Realizing their tree-sitting days might be numbered, a few dozen people took turns Thursday climbing up the ladder, wielding the bull horn and dangling their legs from the plywood platform, wedged between one of the threatened oak trees.

As if they were waiting to ride the latest and greatest amusement park roller coaster or see a famed art exhibit before it leaves town, they streamed into the grove all day Thursday anxiously waiting to get their 15 or 30 or 60 minutes of fame in a Memorial Oak Grove tree.

"I've been following it on the news and I've been meaning to get here. I felt compelled to come because of the occasion," said Betty Jane Wilhoit, 79, of Oakland.

The police have told the tree sitters and their ground support crews to move on or a fence will go up at the grove on Piedmont Avenue just north of Bancroft Way.

But that didn't deter people who are just as old as the trees themselves, children, real estate agents, students, filmmakers and those experienced in preserving everything from rain forests to feminist rights from coming out for the 24-Hour Community Tree Sit- in.

"What (I heard) was that they will be roping it off and expelling (people), so that played into (my decision to come)," said Wilhoit, a career yoga teacher and fundraiser for various environmental causes for the last 20 years.

In the end, Wilhoit called her time in the tree -- about 30 minutes -- lovely and "very peaceful."

Her friend, Tiffany Higgins, said the sacredness of the grove is likely the draw for people from so many walks of life.

"People of many beliefs might feel that there is some sort of soul here, and I definitely feel it. I was feeling agitated before I came there and I sat in the tree for 30 minutes and I felt a sense of calm," said Higgins, a 36-year-old college English teacher from Oakland.

Organizers said police issued an "ultimatum" Wednesday afternoon, demanding that the tree sitters and their crews vacate the area because of health and safety concerns.

"Their real intention is to stop the protest," organizer Doug Buckwald said.

UC Berkeley spokeswoman Marie Felde said police did not make such a demand.

"We didn't give them a time, but (we) did tell them they needed to leave," Felde said. "If they aren't cooperative and don't move on their own, there is the possibility that the campus police would feel it necessary to erect some sort of temporary fence."

Police said the people living in trees and the ground support crews are trespassing and committing illegal lodging.

"We would prefer not to put up a fence, but enough is enough," UC Berkeley Capt. Mitch Celaya said.

Aside from the community tree-sit Thursday, at least six people have been living, eating and sleeping in the trees since Dec. 1, when UC Berkeley announced it will raze more than three dozen trees to make room for a new $125 million sports training facility, parking lot and offices next to Memorial Stadium.

Three separate groups -- including the city of Berkeley -- sued to stop the project, and last month Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller issued a preliminary injunction that prevents UC Berkeley from breaking ground -- or removing trees -- at the site. A fourth group also sued, but that case is being considered separately.

The university decided not to appeal, and a trial is expected in three to six months for three of the four lawsuits. Felde said the trees are not endangered and people should let the courts decide their fate.

Not on our watch, say tree sitters.

"The bottom line is the trees are not safe," Buckwald said. "People are here because UC Berkeley has not changed their plan to cut down this grove and build the athletic center. It's only been postponed."