A group of Berkeleyans fulfilled every stereotype of the woo-woo Left by hugging eucalyptus trees with their clothes off, to protest a proposed tree-clearing program to prevent wildfire.
Tracey Taylor reports for Berkeleyside that an estimated 50-75 people took part in a staged protest on Saturday, July 18, 2015, at a eucalyptus grove on the UC Berkeley campus, many of them stripping naked in doing so, to make clear their opposition to a proposed FEMA-funded tree-clearing program in the East Bay hills.
The event was orchestrated by the Tree Spirit Project whose mission is “to raise awareness of the critical role trees play in our lives, both globally and personally.” Jack Gescheidt, who founded the project, does this partly by taking fine-art photographs of people, often naked, communing with trees and nature.
On Saturday, at around 10 a.m., Gescheidt came to an area of the Cal campus with a six-man crew, according to Ted Friedman who took the photographs published here. Gescheidt gave a “stirring talk” defending the eucalyptus trees, which he said have been wrongly identified as a fire risk. He then directed the volunteers who had shown up to pose artfully against the large trees. Then many of the volunteers stripped off and resumed their poses for photographs to be taken. The shoot took about two hours.
Eye Bleach Alert!
What’s seen can never be unseen!
You were warned. So if you choose to proceed, don’t complain later.
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency in March allocated $5.7 million to the California Office of Emergency Services to remove eucalyptus trees as part of fire hazard abatement in Claremont Canyon — scene of a devastating wildfire in 1991 — and other nearby areas, such as Tilden Park and Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve. The funds will be distributed to UC Berkeley, the city of Oakland, and the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD).
The fire that took hold on Oct. 20, 1991 spread across 1,520 acres, incinerating more than 3,300 homes at an average rate of 11 seconds each and, ultimately, injuring 150 people and leaving 25 dead.
The Tree Spirit Project has joined other campaigners who oppose what they say is unnecessary and harmful “clear-cutting.” The Hills Conservation Network (HCN) group is suing FEMA in federal court. It says the clearing of trees will increase rather than decrease fire danger by turning fire-resistant living trees into dead wood left onsite. It is also protesting the potential use of the herbicide Glyphosate, commercially known as Round Up, on the remaining tree stumps after the clearing.
However, another group of hills residents opposes the FEMA decision for the opposite reason: they say the fire mitigation plan doesn’t go far enough. The Claremont Canyon Conservancy (CCC) supports complete eradication. Jon Kaufman, stewardship coordinator of the 500-strong group, said earlier this year: “The problem today is eucalyptuses crowd out native trees, leaving a dense eucalyptus forest with oaks and bays underneath, starved for sunlight.”
Why is it that only the Left protest by going naked? Is it exhibitionism, which they fancifully rationalize as their bold “subversion” of “middle-class” American culture? See:
- Being Left and Going Naked
- Carnegie Mellon U. mocks Catholic Church with naked woman dressed as pope
- Topless equality activist causes bust-up with neighbors in her town after insisting on doing EVERYTHING half-naked
- Naked People Must Sit On Towels
- “Puke of the day,” Geraldo Rivera tweets naked pic of self.
- Weiner’s Naked Weiner Hits the Web
~Éowyn
