Sep 6, 2008 6:04 pm US/Pacific
UC Berkeley Continues Clearing Trees From Grove
BERKELEY (CBS 5 / AP) ―
The University of California, Berkeley continued cutting down oak trees on Saturday in Memorial Grove to clear the way for construction of an athletic training center.
A long-running tree-sitting protest also continued despite the tree felling, which was expected to be completed by the end of the weekend.
Four remaining protesters in the vicinity of the felled trees did not budge even as workers in two cherry pickers stripped most of the branches off the redwood tree in which they were perched.
UC officials again called on the tree protesters to come down from their perch, saying they did not want anyone to get hurt.
"The last thing we want to do is to get to that forcible extraction," university spokesman Dan Mogulof said.
He added that university officials have not decided what they will do if the protesters do not come down peacefully.
Protesters have swatted at the workers in cherry pickers with sticks. Officials said a worker was hit on the head Friday by a bottle from the tree-sitters' perch but was able to keep trimming.
"It's surreal to see the grove finally be cut down, after so much energy and effort and spirit was put into protecting it," Daria Garina, a UC Berkeley junior and supporter of the tree-sitters, said. "It's tragic and awful."
The cutting began after the California Court of Appeal late Thursday denied a request from two citizens groups for an injunction barring construction of the new sports facility. The groups have said they plan to take their case to the state Supreme Court.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
