The University of California, Berkeley oak grove controversy arose over the planned removal of a grove of oak trees in preparation for the construction of a new student athletic training center for the University of California, Berkeley. The university's actions sparked three lawsuits, as well as a tree sit-in that ran from December 2006 to September 2008, when the trees in question were finally cut down. Berkeley municipal law prohibits removing any coast live oak with a trunk larger than six inches within city boundaries, but city boundaries do not include the university and the university further claimed an exemption to the city law as a state agency.
The grove
The oak grove sits at the base of California Memorial Stadium and at the time of the controversy consisted of about 90 trees: 65 oaks, including 38 coast live oaks, 25 pittosporum, 8 redwoods, 5 pines and 1 or 2 cypress, cedar, pepper and yew trees. Anywhere from two to five of the oaks predated the 83-year-old stadium. According to Lech Naumovich, a conservation analyst for the California Native Plant Society, "This is one of the most outstanding examples of oak woodland in an urban interface, and the last remnant of coast live oak woodland ecology in the Berkeley lowlands." Naumovich also said that the grove provided sustenance for over 300 animal species, among them squirrels, acorn woodpeckers and deer.
It is illegal to cut down mature coast live oaks in the City of Berkeley. However, the University claims an exception as its property belongs to the state and is not within the city's jurisdiction. The University claimed that most of the trees were planted in 1923 as part of a landscaping project. The university further stated that of the 44 trees slated to be cut down "only two or three predate memorial stadium."
Training facility The proposed Student Athlete High Performance Center (SAHPC) will be four stories tall, with of space.
The University says the SAHPC is needed to provide safer facilities for the 350 people who work and train at California Memorial Stadium. The City of Berkeley claims that the facility will be unsafe because of its proximity to the Hayward Fault Zone, and supporters of the grove pointed out that if the University believes the stadium is currently unsafe, it should move all staff to another location immediately, and cease holding football games until the stadium is repaired.
The University claims the SAHPC will cost over $125 million, and will require the removal of dozens of coast live oaks. According to materials published by the University, funding for the SAHPC will not come from either the state or the University's regular operating budget. Instead, a separate campaign has been organized to raise the money for SAHPC from private donors.
Grove supporters asked the university to consider other locations on campus that would not require removing trees, which University administrators considered but rejected as being too far from the stadium.
Tree-sit
The tree-sit was initiated and led by Zachary RunningWolf, a community activist and former Berkeley mayoral candidate. RunningWolf said that construction of the athletic center would be "a hate crime; we call it Guantánamo Berkeley". He also has said that the Illuminati and the Masons are conspiring to build the center because "the grove is at the intersection of compass lines connecting the Haas School of Business (money) with Alcatraz (state violence) and the Lawrence Berkeley lab that gave America nukes".
The protest ran from December 2, 2006, to September 9, 2008, and was the longest urban tree-sit ever.
In September 2007 the university reported that there had been 155 violations and 98 arrests or citations in connection with the protest. By April 5, 2008, the protest had also generated more than 200 police reports, most of which were filed against the protesters.
As of November 2007 the university had spent $125,000 for private security guards at the grove, $100,000 in covering costs incurred by the University of California Police Department (UCPD) that were not part of their normal on-duty operations, and $117,000 in building two fences around the grove. As of April 5, 2008, the cost to UCPD had reached $300,000.
Burial grounds
On February 16, 2007, RunningWolf produced an archaeological survey document stating that the proposed location of the athletic center was "an area producing burials". The document had been provided by an anonymous sympathizer. A San Francisco Examiner article from 1925 was included with the survey document that indicated that Leslie Spier, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Washington, had unearthed three bodies in the area and believed the remains were part of an American Indian burial site. The article also indicated that bodies had been unearthed during the original construction of the stadium, but did not say if they were believed to be American Indian remains. There is some confusion as to which site the skeletons came from as the survey document covers both the stadium site and Faculty Glade, which is located 200 yards away. The Save the Oaks Foundation claims as many as 18 burials have been discovered at the stadium site.
RunningWolf stated that University administrators did not make this fact clear in the environmental impact report filed for the project. The University responded that the report did state that there was high chance of archaeological sites within the planned area of construction. University administrators stated that they would perform a subsurface, archaeological test after a court-ordered injunction was lifted. The test would determine if the site contained remains of historical importance.
Although RunningWolf claimed that California Senate Bill 18 would prevent further construction on the site, the University stated that the presence of remains would not stop them from building the athletic center. Larry Myers, executive secretary of the Native American Heritage Commission confirmed that California law does not outlaw construction on burial grounds. While federal laws require that descendants and the local Native American Heritage Commission must oversee any removal of remains from a site, the laws do not prevent construction on sites once the remains have been removed.
Kent Lightfoot, a curator at the University's Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology, said that there was no clear ethnic identification of the skeletons, nor evidence that they were part of a larger burial grounds and not simply isolated skeletons. Lightfoot went on to say that the only known artifact recovered near the skeletons was a Mexican coin from the second quarter of the 19th century.
Some American Indian leaders expressed anger at the plans to build on the site. Corrina Gould, an Ohlone Indian, said that the site was sacred to the Ohlone. Malcolm Margolin, the author of The Ohlone Way said that the site was a likely spot for an Ohlone village. Indian leader Wounded Knee, of the Ohlone tribe, expressed anger with the planned construction, saying the site was being desecrated. However, Andrew Galvan, an Ohlone tribe member who collaborates with the university on research, stated that he was unaware of any proof of an Ohlone burial site in the grove.
The California Oak Foundation amended their lawsuit to reflect the presence of the remains.
Nude photo shoot On March 17, 2007, more than 100 people took part in a nude photo shoot by Jack Gescheidt with the oak trees as part of his TreeSpirit Project. Although the participants were told by UCPD that they would be arrested for public indecency, no arrests were made.
Tree-sitters remove branches On July 16, 2007, UCPD reported that a redwood and a cedar in the grove had been damaged. The police suspected the tree-sitters of causing the damage during the construction of their sleeping platform. A spokesman for the protesters said that the platform was constructed in such a way as not to cause damage to the trees.
RunningWolf responded by saying that the tree-sitters had in fact removed the branches, but had done so for preservation purposes. RunningWolf said the redwood, which had its top removed by the protesters, was already dead and that the other branches removed were also dead. RunningWolf said that "We have a professional arborist with us along with my (Native American knowledge) of how to help the tree regenerate after pruning the degenerative material off the tree". The UCPD in turn claimed the trees were trimmed to allow more room for platform construction. RunningWolf denied that the trees were cut to make room for platforms, saying that doing so would be "against our way of life". RunningWolf also stated that those responsible for cutting the trees had already left the grove due to the high turnover of protesters in the branches.
The university's landscape architect and grounds services manager both agree that while pruning was not necessarily bad for the trees, removing the top of the redwood was bad practice as the tree would grow back weakly attached branches.
The first fence On August 29, 2007, a chain link fence was constructed around the protesters. The fence was erected to prevent confrontation between the protesters and the sellout crowd of 72,516 people (17,000 of them from Tennessee, the opposing team) that were expected to attend the opening game of the California Golden Bears' football season. Protesters responded with shouts and promises to make it difficult for the UCPD to guard the fence. The protesters claimed the fence was erected not to protect them, but to starve them out. Some have drawn comparisons between the building of the fence, and the attempted take back of People's Park in 1969, in which the California National Guard was called in to remove protesters. Initially the police did not allow food and water to be passed over the fence to the tree sitters, but started to allow the deliveries by the evening. Two men were arrested following scuffles with police. Around 200 additional people joined hands around the fence in support of the tree sitters. The fence cost the University between $10,000 and $12,000 to build. Despite the fence, more protesters took up spots in the trees.
The California Oak Foundation challenged the construction of the fence in Hayward court, saying it violated a previous court order banning construction on the site. Judge Barbara Miller ruled that the fence was not in violation of her previous court order.
Eviction judgment On September 12, 2007, the University announced that it would seek a restraining order to remove the protesters. The university claimed that the camp was a fire hazard because of two propane burners used to heat food. The university also claimed that falling containers of human excrement constituted a health hazard. Although RunningWolf denied the allegations of propane tanks being used, one was visible from the ground and four other protesters confirmed that they used them.
On October 1, 2007, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Richard Keller ruled after a 90-minute hearing that the sit-in was illegal, that the First Amendment rights of the protesters were not violated as they were free to use them elsewhere, and that the university had a right to keep people off its property. Protesters who attended the hearing vowed to continue their protest regardless of the five days of jail time and $1000 fine that could be imposed upon them. Although the initial ruling was targeted against only protester David Galloway, on October 29, 2007, Judge Keller extended his ruling to apply to "all other persons acting in concert or participating with (the protesters)". The UCPD stated that even with the ruling they did not yet intend to remove the protesters.
The second fence