Protester Takes to Tree in Hopes of Preserving It

A town known for its environmental activism lived up to its reputation Wednesday when a man climbed into a tree and vowed not to come down until the city rescinds an unpopular decision to cut down three aging oaks.

“These trees prefer to live!” John Christianson, 51, shouted to supporters gathered 30 feet below at the base of the tree in Libbey Park. “They have a right to live.”

Around the tree, six sheriff’s deputies stood guard among a crowd of 125 sign-waving protesters and television crews and periodically tried to coax Christianson down. If he didn’t come down, they said, they would have to remove him.

“I appreciate his passion, but in this case we’re talking about dead trees,” said sheriff’s spokesman Eric Nishimoto.

The fate of the oaks has been a matter of civic concern for weeks, since the City Council learned the 150-year-old trees are dying and could become unstable. Because the trees form a canopy over a playground, the council voted to remove them. But after a public outcry, the council reconsidered the issue Tuesday.

It was a raucous meeting. Public works director Stan Hakes said the trees could fall at any time, putting the city at risk of lawsuits. About 30 residents protested, saying the playground should be removed, not the trees.

Arborist Mark Schneider agreed, saying the trees are sick because children have damaged their shallow roots. He also said the trees still might recover if they were not subjected to playground activities.

On a 3-2 vote, the council reaffirmed its earlier vote to remove all three trees. Two are scheduled to be cut down today.

Shocked protesters walked one block to the trees, where some performed ceremonies that they said were for the trees’ souls.

One protester, Alexandra Wolfe of Ojai, was arrested Tuesday night, accused of resisting arrest. As of Wednesday night she was still in Ventura County Jail on $5,000 bail. She is scheduled to be arraigned this morning.

In a city where residents love oak trees enough to avoid damaging them when situating roads and houses, police had expected someone to climb one of the trees in protest, and guards were set around them. But when police left to answer a call elsewhere early Wednesday, Christianson hopped a chain link fence erected around the trees and climbed up.

Police returned to find the lanky, gray-haired man in the middle tree, secured in a harness of mountain-climbing ropes.

The spectacle was a mostly laid-back, Ojai-style event. As the protest and the day wore on, deputies regularly hoisted bottles of water up to Christianson, and asked how he was doing.

Protesters painted signs, cheered Christianson on and waved at cars passing by. Drivers honked and waved back. As television camera crews descended on the park, Ruth Henderson, 58, said she was afraid the protest wouldn’t be taken seriously.

“To them, I think, it’s just a picturesque ‘60s-type activism,” she said of the camera crews. “But we’re not freaks. A lot of people move to Ojai for the trees.”

Even those who disagreed with Christianson found themselves drawn to him. “Someone told me John was in the tree and I said you’ve got to be kidding, so I came over to see if he wanted me to bring him lunch,” said Jeff Rains, who favored removing the trees.

Christianson is active with several environmental groups and was a founder of the newly formed Ojai Oak Alliance, a group heading efforts to save the three trees. He also has been a lifelong admirer of Henry David Thoreau, the 19th century naturalist and writer who advocated civil disobedience when government failed to acknowledge the people’s will.

He once portrayed Thoreau in an environmental video. Three decades ago, Christianson fasted for 23 days to protest U.S. involvement in Cambodia.

Still, he admitted, “I’m scared stiff of going to jail.”

Wearing only a navy blue fleece jacket, T-shirt, slacks and tennis shoes, Christianson was hardly prepared for a long stay. He also noted he hadn’t been to a men’s room in 10 hours.

For these and other reasons, deputies believed time was on their side. Christianson would be arrested on suspicion of trespassing and resisting arrest when he came down, deputies said.

Sgt. Bob Young asked Christianson once whether he would come down if police agreed not to arrest him. Christianson said no.

Deputies placed bright blue foam gymnastics pads around the base of the tree in case Christianson fell.

Meanwhile, there were last-ditch efforts under way by the council to reconsider the vote. Protesters said Ojai’s mayor, Suza Francina, who voted against removing the trees, was trying to get a council member to change his vote so that at least one of the trees could be saved.

Francina, who was at the protest, said the city should let the trees live out their old age in a fenced-off “oak preserve” in the middle of the park.

“We hastened the process [of death for the trees]; it’s up to us to undo the harm,” she said.

Finally, about 10 p.m., Christianson agreed to come down and the Fire Department sent for a truck.

As for all the hubbub in downtown Ojai, a normally peaceful town of 8,000, one protester said Christianson was carrying on a long tradition of social activism. “People here were tying themselves to trees in the 1930s when asphalt was being poured,” said Lily Haggerty. “So this is nothing new.”