Several dozen protesters have taken to the trees at the University of California at Berkeley to oppose the clearing of a nearly 100-year-old oak grove.
Several protesters have camped out in the branches of the trees in an attempt to block a planned expansion of California Memorial Stadium that will cut down two-thirds of the nearly 140 trees in the grove, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Aug. 30.
The tree-sitters, who have been rotating in and out of the trees since Dec. 1, say they won't come down unless the university relents on its plans to remove the trees to build the $125-million athletic training facility, the Chronicle reported.
Last Wednesday, the university constructed a chain link fence surrounding the protesters in what school officials said was an effort to keep the tree-sitters safe from the almost 80,000 football fans who were due to arrive on Saturday.
But the protesters objected to the fence, which they said was intended to starve them out.
"By putting a fence around the grove, the university is trying to starve the tree-sitters and deprive them of water," Stephan Volker, attorney for the tree-sitters and the California Oaks Foundation, told the Chronicle. "They've drawn a noose around the First Amendment."
The protesters have received food from supporters on the ground, with water and bathroom supplies hoisted up to them via ropes. But campus police cleared out the supporters when the fence was erected, leaving the tree-sitters marooned with a few energy bars and one or two bottles of water, one of the protest organizers, Doug Buckwald, told the Chronicle.
University officials said the fence was put in place for the protection of the protesters from upset football fans.
Dan Mogolov, a spokesman for UC Berkeley, told The Herald the protests over the stadium project were unnecessary.
"When the construction is complete, there will be more trees there than there are now," he said, noting that the university has promised to plant three new trees for every one cut down in the grove.
The stadium addition has faced other challenges from members of the community. The city of Berkeley has filed suit against the university, saying the building, which is close to a fault line, would be unsafe in the event of an earthquake.
Mogolov said the university was "disappointed" the city had rejected offers of discussion on the subject, but he said the university believes it will "settle differences" in court.
