Man takes to treetops in clearance row
Source: Agencies |
January 14, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WITH the sounds of bulldozers echoing beneath him, veteran tree sitter John Quigley perched in a century-old oak in Los Angeles on Wednesday, saying he won't come down until public works officials stop felling scores of trees as part of a dam improvement project.
Quigley, who helped save a beloved oak with a similar sit-in eight years ago, was joined by a handful of other sitters who took up positions in branches overlooking 4.45 hectares of picturesque foothills.
"They're destroying trees all around us," Quigley said by cell phone as the sound of bulldozers below him could be heard. "It's a sad scene and something that didn't need to happen."
Public works officials say the trees, some of them more than 100 years old, must go to ensure the integrity of a nearby dam that provides most of the drinking water to the Los Angeles suburbs of Arcadia and Sierra Madre.
As darkness fell, about 2,000 protesters and onlookers including actress Darryl Hannah gathered at a gate leading to a stand of trees being felled.
"I came out to support the community that is trying to put out some common sense and not cut down a paradise for a rubble pit," Hannah said.
The actress said she learned of the protest from Quigley, who she has known since she took part in a tree-sitting protest to try to save an urban garden in a warehouse district near downtown Los Angeles that was plowed under in 2006.
Los Angeles County Public Works spokesman Bob Spencer said the tree removal project has been in the works for three years and was a safety issue.
Over the years, Spencer said, sediment has built up behind the dam, limiting its water capacity and compromising its safety in the event of an earthquake or other catastrophe.
Clearing the 4.45 hectares of trees will create a placement area the sediment can be channeled to.
Quigley, who helped save a beloved oak with a similar sit-in eight years ago, was joined by a handful of other sitters who took up positions in branches overlooking 4.45 hectares of picturesque foothills.
"They're destroying trees all around us," Quigley said by cell phone as the sound of bulldozers below him could be heard. "It's a sad scene and something that didn't need to happen."
Public works officials say the trees, some of them more than 100 years old, must go to ensure the integrity of a nearby dam that provides most of the drinking water to the Los Angeles suburbs of Arcadia and Sierra Madre.
As darkness fell, about 2,000 protesters and onlookers including actress Darryl Hannah gathered at a gate leading to a stand of trees being felled.
"I came out to support the community that is trying to put out some common sense and not cut down a paradise for a rubble pit," Hannah said.
The actress said she learned of the protest from Quigley, who she has known since she took part in a tree-sitting protest to try to save an urban garden in a warehouse district near downtown Los Angeles that was plowed under in 2006.
Los Angeles County Public Works spokesman Bob Spencer said the tree removal project has been in the works for three years and was a safety issue.
Over the years, Spencer said, sediment has built up behind the dam, limiting its water capacity and compromising its safety in the event of an earthquake or other catastrophe.
Clearing the 4.45 hectares of trees will create a placement area the sediment can be channeled to.
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