Dear friends of The TreeSpirit Project,
Photographer Jack Gescheidt here. Last March, with the help of over 100 fellow tree-lovers, I made a TreeSpirit photograph in The Memorial Oak Grove in Berkeley, CA. Our intention was to make an artwork to save this grove of mature oak trees from death at the hands of UC Berkeley developers. (UCB wants to remove the trees to make room for a gymnasium; one that could be built elsewhere, sparing the trees and also not directly over the Hayward Fault.) Since December 2nd, fellow tree-lovers have been living up in these trees to draw attention to the trees and the issues. Many more Berkeley citizens on the ground supply treesitters with food, water, practical and emotional support.
Yesterday, Friday, September 14, 2007, I was honored to witness another dramatic chapter in the ongoing effort to save this grove of over 140 trees from the axe (while the court cases are still pending). I was moved to tears by what I saw.
About 35 UC Berkeley students—kids paying UC Berkeley for their education—wore yellow T-shirts that read “Free Trees” on one side and “Free Speech” on the other. They spoke passionately of their rights to free speech and free assembly, including sitting in and around trees. These rights were denied them when 2 weeks ago UCB put up a chain-link fence around the trees and sued the treesitters.
The students spoke about the ecological importance and value of these mature, living trees. (Many were planted over 80 years ago as a supposedly permanent, living, World War I memorial. They are old, beloved members of a healthy self-sustaining ecosystem, and a healthy community that includes us humans.
And then the students performed an “action.” They climbed over the new fence that blocks access to the trees. They were energetic, but peaceful throughout. The police acted with professional restraint but, presumably under orders, eventually arrested many of the demonstrators. These young adults simply refused to concede what they see as their constitutional rights to assemble and dissent to the same institution of learning which teaches them about these rights. (Remember, campus police simply do the bidding of the university; it is the university that apparently still has something to learn about civil rights, community will and environmental health.)
These students, decades younger than me, demonstrated qualities that inspire me to write you, including:
Sincerity
Integrity
Courage
Innocence
Wisdom
Determination
Belief in democracy and justice
But don’t take my words for it. Thanks to the same documentary filmmaker who recorded my March photographic demonstration, listen and see for yourself some of yesterday’s events on this YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5AO2jL8LMM&feature=PlayList&p=D97BB4921A65B7ED&index=0
The Oakland Tribune also ran the story today:
http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_6903803
Thank you all for bearing witness—Go, Cal Bears!
And thank you for caring about trees everywhere in this era of global warming.
Sincerely,
Jack
Jack Gescheidt
San Francisco, CA
jack@treespiritproject.com
https://treespiritproject.com
A photographic celebration of our connection to nature.
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An issues addendum for those new to the controversy: The University of California wants to kill many/most of the trees in order to build a gymnasium next to the existing stadium, a stadium sitting on the Hayward fault. Two weeks ago they erected a chain link fence around many of the trees, saying this was for “safety,” reducing potential weekend conflict between treesitters and (Cal Bears) football fans. As if all football fans hate trees, as if all tree lovers hate football, as if the gym couldn’t be built a few blocks away in a UC Berkeley parking lot. As a student sign yesterday put it: “Old trees AND new buildings.”
And if the fence were erected only to prevent conflict, as the university claims, then why do they prevent treesitters, ground support, and Berkeley citizens from entering the grove, which is what the fence does? It seems more likely UC is simply sick and tired of the treesitters, the demonstrations and the continuing resistance to their development plans made without community involvement. So put up a fence, sue the demonstrators, and deny their rights to free assembly and free speech, especially when their speech advocates building the gym elsewhere.
In my view, it comes down to money and effort. It would take money and effort and more reports and red tape to switch gym sites. It’s expedient for them to dig in their heels and ignore the sound objections. They still don’t see the value of these trees, which is what the resistance is about. But the surrounding community in Berkeley and beyond does, and both football fans and tree lovers can be served. As another big sign in the trees yesterday put it, “BEARS LOVE TREES.”
You can learn more about what’s going on in the grove, here:
SaveOaks.com.
And from a recent SF Chronicle article by Carolyn Jones here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/13/BAPSS5049.DTL&hw=Memorial+Oak+Grove&sn=002&sc=843
And more YouTube videos coverage of actions in the grove is here:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D97BB4921A65B7ED