Posted on 09/17/2008 2:30:00 PM PDT by SmithL
BERKELEY (CBS 5 / BCN) ― Three tree-sitters said Wednesday they don't regret trying to stop the University of California, Berkeley from building a sports training facility next to its football stadium.
Eight days after the last tree-sitter came down from a 90-foot-tall redwood tree, ending a 21-month protest at a grove of trees next to the stadium, tree-sitter Raul Colocho said, "On one level it was a wonderful experience to be up there.''
But Colocho, also known as "Huck,'' said "it's a shame'' that the university cut down more than 40 trees after it won court approval to go ahead with the $125 million project.
Speaking at a news conference next to the site from which the trees were removed, Colocho said, "It was devastating to see the trees go.''
Armando Resendez, known as "Mando,'' called the protest "an act of civil disobedience'' and said, "We didn't do any harm.''
Ernesto Pena, who goes by "Nesto,'' said, "We tried to stay positive when we were in the trees and we knew what we were in for.''
Colocho, Resendez, Pena and a fourth tree-sitter, Michael Schuck, were arrested on misdemeanor trespassing charges by campus police when they came down from the tree on Sept. 9.
Colocho, Resendez and Pena have been released from custody on bail, but Schuck remains at the Alameda County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail.
Some how I missed that.
All of the surrounding trees were removed before they came down. Their tree came down immediately after they did.
A local in the neighborhood was explaining that a local homeowners association was behind the tree sitters, funding their resistance. They are classic NIMBY’s
Of course, the MSM missed this story, and wrote it like a enviro resistance.
The truth was much more banal; with neighbors just egging on and paying for the protest the whole time to protect their expensive homes.
Is “the Farm” still a prison farm, or do they just get to sit around & body build all day? I moved out of Pleasant Hill in 1970, so am just curious.
I have 50-foot redwoods in my backyard I planted 10 years ago. No big deal.
Trees grow a little slower up here ggg.
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