US: Victory for tree sitters at Berkley Oaks

22 June 2008

A group of protesters who have occupied a stand of coastal oaks at the University of California, Berkeley, for 19 months claimed victory last week when a Superior Court judge ruled that a university project on the site must be temporarily delayed to address lingering concerns about the project, reports the New York Times.

The ruling by Judge Barbara J Miller came at the culmination of a tense stand-off between protesters and the police. Doug Buckwald, the founder of Save the Oaks at the Stadium, said: "Because of the work of lots and lots of people in the community, in the city and in the trees, we have protected this grove."

The university wants to cut the trees, adjacent to the football stadium, to build a $123 million athletic centre. Three groups, including the City of Berkeley, have sued the university over its plans, which would also include a seismic retrofit on the 1923 stadium, which sits on the Hayward fault. The university said the decision was only a minor setback, dealing mainly with noise and traffic issues.
Full report on the New York Times

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