On the UC Berkeley campus the noise in the trees isn't coming from birds singing to each other. It's coming from human beings that have been sitting in an oak tree on campus in protest of the building of an athletic training center that will replace the beautiful oak-grove. While this protest in the name of environmental conservation has been peaceful, one of the protestors recently got into a tussle with a police officer.
Recently, the long-awaited decision was issued by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller when she declared the training center legal, allowing the university to go ahead and build in place of the trees. The school acknowledges that it will have to destroy the grove but they also claim that they will plant three trees for every one that is cut down.
Opponents of the athletic center don't just sit in trees but are also represented by experts who argue openly that the center will sit on the dangerous Hayward Fault. Representatives of the university counter that their plans to build include preparations to retrofit the area in order to meet modern seismic specifications.
An appeal is planned so the battle will continue in court for a while. In the meantime the protesters will have to leave their tree house.