Regents OK Stadium Area Overhaul

Activists are entering their fifth day of living in the oak trees surrounding Memorial Stadium to protest construction that would remove more than 40 of the trees.

Three tree-dwellers and a rotating ground crew said they will stay put after the UC Board of Regents yesterday gave the go-ahead for renovation and construction of athletic facilities.

Protesters said the oak trees, most of which are about 80 years old, have irreplaceable environmental and historical value.

“I’m disappointed in the decision,” said protester and former Berkeley mayoral candidate Zachary RunningWolf, 43. “But I suspected it would go that way, because the UC Board of Regents is removed from the community.”

UCPD Assistant Chief Mitch Celaya said there are no immediate plans to forcibly remove the protesters.

RunningWolf is joined in the trees by protester Jess Walsh, 20, and one other rotating community member. Both RunningWolf and Walsh said they will stay in the trees indefinitely or, as RunningWolf said, “until they bring me down.”

UC spokespeople did not return calls for comment yesterday about how the protesters may impact the start of construction, slated to begin in March.

Recent UC Berkeley alumnus Kingman Lim, one of several protesters who took turns sitting in a designated tree, said the experience was “fine, if a little cold.”

“I hope that by putting our bodies on the line, we show how much people care about this grove,” Lim said.

The protesters say their actions have been met with community support, including a ground crew equipped with tarps for the rain and medical training in case someone gets sick.

Community members have donated food and other supplies since the protesters set up camp early Saturday morning, RunningWolf said.

“The support has been excellent,” he said. “I actually feel kind of spoiled.”

Among supporters was Berkeley resident Karen Dabrusin who donated cookies yesterday. The cookies were placed in a bag, which was then hoisted into the tree using a rope.

“You can’t replace these trees,” said Dabrusin, who graduated from UC Berkeley in 1966. “We walked by these on our way to the football games. You can put a building somewhere else.”

Police will interfere if the protesters’ actions “impede the university,” Celaya said.

Any possible action taken would be balanced with the safety of the individuals and officers, Celaya said.

The protesters and ground crew were advised they were trespassing and lodging illegally, which could subject them to arrest, Celaya said.

But the protesters currently “do not have significant impact on the university’s operations,” he said.

“I go where my heart is calling,” Walsh said. “I’ve been called to do things that inspire people to be in touch with the environment. This is one of them.”

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