Senior Women, Climbing Trees

Berkeley Activists Stop University from Building in Oak Grove

Feb 4, 2007 Grace Lichtenstein

Outdoor activist women in Berkeley, Calif.went to great lengths to halt destruction of trees

Credit the 71-year-old former mayor and other mature women activists in Berkeley for putting at least a temporary halt to construction at the University of California.

The former mayor, Shirley Dean, was among the tree-huggers who hoisted themselves into live oaks recently to stop them from being cut down as part of a school project to build a new gym. She admitted to a reporter that she was "scared to death because I'm afraid of heights,"

Outdoor Recreation?

The protest worked. After a temporary injunction was issued by a local judge to stop the clearing of the site, Dean said "this is a wonderful day. We are rejoicing." The judge cited enviornmental concerns in felling trees in Berkeley's Oak Grove outside Memorial Stadium. Dean had been joined in the branches by a 86-year-old city councilwoman and the 91-year-old head of Save the Bay,Sylvia McLaughlin.

According to one report, McLaughlin dangled her feet "like a kid in a tree house" as she spoke to journalists.UC Berkeley wanted to demolish three dozen trees to make way for the $125-million athletic facility. The women and others insisted the construction would not just hurt the trees, but block the views of people in neighboring buildings who could watch football games in the stadium from their homes.

"This little grove of trees is an oasis. If we can't save this, we might as well throw in the towel," Betty Olds, the city councilwoman, had declared. Protest, of course, is nothing new to Berkeley, but redwoods usually get more attention in northern California than oaks.

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