Oak

tree

may

be

doomed

By

Heather

MacDonald

Staff

Writer

STEVENSON

RANCH

--

Desperate

to

prevent

a

400-year-old

oak

tree

from

being

chopped

down,

an

environmental

activist

scaled

it

Friday

and

prepared

to sit

there

until

a

deal

is

reached

to

save the majestic tree.

Alerted by members of the Santa

Clarita Organization for Planning

and the Environment about the

potential destruction of the

heritage oak tree, John Quigley of

Pacific Palisades climbed the

massive tree just before 7 a.m.,

hours after an agreement

protecting the tree on Pico

Canyon Road expired.

"I'll be up here as long as it

takes," Quigley said, via a

walkie-talkie from about 50 feet

above the ground. "This tree is

older than any of us, and there's

no reason for it to be cut down."

Down below, other

environmentalists protested

plans that call for the tree to be

cut down to expand Pico Canyon

Road. After tying yellow ribbons

to the orange mesh fence

surrounding the oak, they urged

drivers to honk in support.

"This tree is a symbol of all of the

trees we've already lost and all

the trees we're not going to be

able to save," said Cynthia

Neal-Harris, vice president of the

Santa Clarita Oaks Conservancy.

The county Department of Public

Works has been looking into the

issue for several days but has yet

to find a solution, officials said.

The Santa Clarita City Council

will discuss the matter at its

Tuesday study session and may

vote to urge Los Angeles County

officials to reduce the size of Pico

Canyon Road -- the main

thoroughfare in the planned

community west of Santa Clarita

-- or reroute it away from the oak

tree.

"We need to be more creative,"

said Councilwoman Laurene

Weste, who participated in the

early morning rally. "No one

wants to decimate Pico Canyon."

John Laing Homes, the builder of

the Southern Oaks 279-home

subdivision, promised not to cut

down the tree near Whispering

Oak Avenue until after the council

meeting.

"We don't want to make this road

any bigger, and our homeowners

don't want this road any bigger,"

said division president Bill

Ratazzi. "We'd be very happy not

to cut that tree down, but we need

to reach an agreement quickly."

The development cannot be

completed until Pico Canyon

Road, which has been under

construction for months, is

expanded to four lanes. That is

tying up millions of dollars in

road improvement bonds,

Ratazzi said.

Eventually, Pico Canyon Road is

slated to be extended to State

Route 126 to relieve congestion

in the rapidly developing area

west of the Golden State

Freeway, which includes the

proposed 21,600-home Newhall

Ranch project.

Mayor Frank Ferry said he would

oppose any plan to reduce Pico

Canyon Road to two lanes

because it would force hundreds

of cars onto I-5 and city streets.

"We have to strike a balance

between the environment and the

quality of life of our residents,"

Ferry said. "The reality is that the

cars are coming."

Lennar Communities -- the

developer of Stevenson Ranch --

has submitted plans to county

officials that would reduce the

size of the road and spare the

tree as part of its proposal for the

development of the fifth phase of

the community.

However, it is expected to be

several years before those plans

are approved, county officials

said.

The obvious solution to resolve

the situation quickly is to

separate the road issue from the

development, Ratazzi said.

"I'm hopeful that we can reach an

agreement and save the tree,"

Ratazzi said. "I don't need any

more firewood."

Transcending Single Issue and Reformists Politics at the Santa Clarita Treesit

Transcending Single Issue and Reformists Politics at the Santa Clarita Treesit

“Write a letter to your local politicians!” proclaims the reformist as an act of defiance is made, in this case a treesit. My dear reformist, you are at best but a drug that may temporarily alleviate a symptom but not eradicate the root source of a problem. Shall we pander and beg to the politicians that give the ‘go ahead’ to such development projects on a regular basis? Shall we diffuse our energies in the run-out dead-end of politics? I say not. For those who have observed such games played out, it should be obvious that letters will do little to quell the onslaught of civilization.

The ecological struggle is not merely some anthropocentric rhetoric about “heritage”. It is a life and death struggle. To speak in such verbiage as “heritage” is to reinforce a view of human domination, to speak in terms of the ideology of human supremacy. To recognize the sacredness of all life and redefine our relationships in such terms would be a step toward ending the exploitation of this earth. This redefining poses a threat to the mentality that allows for destruction, like development projects.

The plan is to build some new yuppie “town” (with chemical golf course – the green cancer, man-made lake, etc.), which is another example of the rich desecrating wilderness so they can have their country estate. Class warfare anyone?

A look at the players.

Any developer especially one like Ratazzi, with comments like “I don’t need anymore firewood” (referring to sparing the tree currently occupied) deserve to be put out of business.

"We need to be more creative," said Councilwoman Laurene Weste, who participated in the early morning rally. "No one wants to decimate Pico Canyon."

There is no “creative” way of developing Pico Canyon without decimating it. Obviously the politician is using this issue as a PR move to boost her voter approval, because it’s hip to be sensitive the environment. Let’s not let her improve her career at our or the bioregions expense.

"We have to strike a balance between the environment and the quality of life of our residents," Ferry said. "The reality is that the cars are coming."

Mayor Ferry thinks we need the road to relieve congestion. We don’t need anymore roads, we need an end to the tyranny of the automobile. That oil guzzling chunk of rolling metal. Tell me Mr. Ferry what of the quality of life of the current residents? What of the coyote, the sagebrush, the bobcat, and the multitude of other life forms to be killed? Maybe someone could steal a bulldozer and level Mr. Ferry’s house with family inside to give him some perspective of the environmental stability that is underway for the plants and animals of Pico Canyon. Mr. Perry, just in case your delusional smog filled head is unable to capture the absurdity of your comment, let me elucidate. To approve such as disaster is to disrupt the environmental balance. This is not about striking a compromise between business needs and the earth, our fate is inextricably tied to that of this planet, the more this planet is destroyed the more we approach our own demise. If your idea of “quality of life” is ‘the green cancer’, spewing smog mobiles, alienated humans kept in uniform boxes produced with industrial chemicals; then I suggest you fulfill a more functional purpose and hang yourself from one of those oaks. At least this way you add to the clutter in the way of the development.

Why is there such a defeatist attitude amongst the conservationist interviewed in the news article? Let’s not stop with one tree, lets put down the whole project. This action has potential to do much more than save oak trees, as essential as that is. This treesit could evolve into a community of resistance with blockades and tunneling, acting as a catalyst for radicalizing members of the community. The occupied space could be an opportunity to break out of current social relations to relate on our own terms outside the hierarchical structure of the matrix. This could be a rallying point for resistance to empire expansion and the ecocide that results. It can be an opportunity to expand critique of the self-destructive direction of capitalism as it converts wilderness to wasteland. At the very least we should be able to incur damages and expenses to these scum and let those who plan developments know they can expect resistance and retribution. If we can’t face them with an occupation, let’s get them in the night. Sabotage anyone?

Developers go build in hell! – http://www.angelfire.com/empire/meltdown/developement.html

For info. on road protesting, tunneling, etc. check out: http://www.angelfire.com/empire/meltdown/

No Compromise! By the way where is all the So Cal Earth Firsters!?

It’s up to y’all what your going to make of this. Show up.

Stevenson Ranch, Pico Canyon's charm is being ruined, the beautiful 400 Oak tree deserves to be cherished and preserved as part of our heritage.

Many areas such as Encino, Woodland Hills & Calabasas have chosen to preserve the natural beauty

and have built roads around their Oak trees. Why does our Supervisor Mr Antonovich say that the traffic flow is more important than this tree?

Why does Governor Davis, say this just a local matter?

Didn't he once pledge to save the California Oak trees,

Don't make this area into a boring cookie cutter place.

Please preserve our nautural heitage and save this beautiful old Oak tree. Stevenson Ranch will be all the richer for it.

The Santa Clarita tree! It's been able to survive four centuries of fires, floods, earthquakes and adversity. Then, it met Mike Antonovich. So what is this guy, some kind of weapon of mass destruction? No respect for a living entity that's 400 years old? Got nothing better to say on behalf of Republican life-affirming values than "cut it down!" What a dope!