Protesters who oppose the County's removal of trees in the Arcadia Woodlands took to the trees themselves today in order to offer resistance to the bulldozers poised to take the oaks down. A local Sierra Club member confirmed to Arcadia Patch that the protesters are not affiliated with their organization, but did say that the protesters "had climbed 40 to 50 feet high in the oak trees," in order to make their position known. One of the participants was identified as "activist David Quigley, who has staged similar acts of civil disobedience in the past."
The protesters accessed the site through a side entrance; many stationed themselves at the fence of the property, and refused to leave the scenes. Trees were taken down by the bulldozers as scheduled, though none that contained people were removed. At this time, it is believed all the protesters have been talked down from the trees, and the bulldozing will be completed as planned, according to a live report on KCAL9.
The 179 oak trees and 70 sycamores in the 11-acre canyon are being cleared to make way for a place to deposit hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of silt, rocks and vegetation that is being moved out of the Santa Anita Reservoir, which has not been dredged since 1993.
