This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of the removal of the Berkeley Tree sitters. For 21 months, the longest urban tree-sit, a group of concerned citizens literally took to the trees. A grove of coast live oak, pine, and other trees were slated for demolition to make room for an expansion of the University of California, Berkeley athletic stadium. I remember driving underneath them, past the police cars and the shouting. I remember the road getting narrower as first one fence, and then a second was erected around the grove. In this case, fences did not make good neighbors.
According to Berkeley City law, it is unlawful to remove coast live oaks. The University, however, is state-owned land and a judicial exception was made. Most of the tree-sitters either tied themselves to the trunk of the tree they were in or lived on a 6'x6' platform nailed to branches. Food and other necessities were provided by the ground help and transported by buckets. This, to me, is no way to live in a tree.
Charlie Greenwood would agree. A retired Silicon Valley engineer, Greenwood revolutionized treehouse building with his invention of the GL bolt. A 6" long, nearly 2" thick bolt sticks out of the tree like a new limb and is strong enough to hold 9,000 pounds. This allows for treehouses to be built in the space between two or more trees, dividing the weight more evenly. He has even gone so far as to write up building code specifications for treehouses.
Spend your next vacation reliving your childhood dream of escaping into the trees: http://treehouses.com/joomla/index.php/treesort/accommodations
References
Dalton, Melissa (2016) "The Architects of the Treehouse Movement" 1859 Oregon's Magazine https://1859oregonmagazine.com/think-oregon/art-culture/architects-avant-garde-tree-house-movement/
Jolin, Amy (2008?) All About Treehouses https://www.mondopub.com/Pages/articles/Days_9-12_All_About_Treehouses_p14-23.pdf
Nelson, Pete (2004) Treehouses of the World New York: Abrams.
Peacemaker Treehouses (2008) So You Want to Install a Garnier Limb? https://peacemakertreehouses.wordpress.com/tag/greenwood/
treehouseengineering.com - Greenwood's website, complete with proposed treehouse building code.
Wikipedia links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Berkeley_oak_grove_controversy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Berkeley_oak_grove_controversy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
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