Tree Sitter Stupidity is Over

Protesters came down Tuesday afternoon from a redwood tree at the University of California, Berkeley, ending an epic 21-month occupation of a campus grove aimed at stopping construction of a new sports center.

The last four remaining tree-sitters had finished descending peacefully by 1:30 p.m. after reaching an agreement with the school, but were immediately handcuffed and led away by police.

The descent was the culmination of a tension-filled day on campus marked by scuffles between police and protesters on the ground. Several ground protesters were also arrested.

Officials had said they were prepared to forcibly remove the tree-sitters and had constructed scaffolding around the tree to mount the effort.

The scaffolding quickly grew and soon crews and police had reached the level of the tree-sitters' main platform.

The tree-sitters moved upward to avoid the crews as university Police Chief Victoria Harrison tried to negotiate with them from a metal basket hanging from a crane where she stood with several colleagues.

Around 12:50 p.m., a tree-sitter announced via walkie-talkie to a group of media gathered on the ground that the four planned to come down as part of an agreement with the university that called for the formation of a land-use committee that would have a voice in any future development by the university.

They began their descent shortly after 1 p.m., gathering their belongings and walking down a staircase that had been constructed along with the scaffolding.

The reaction to the descent was mixed among the hundreds of people who had gathered to watch the situation unfold. Some cheered the work crews who put together the scaffolding, and others called out support to the tree-sitters, with one woman soliciting funds to bail them out of jail.

The protest began in late 2006 in an effort to prevent the school from clearing the grove of trees to build a $125 million sports training center next to Memorial Stadium.

The campus had promised to plant three new trees for every one cut.

One less bit of stupidity in the world. Still it's Berkeley at its Berkeley-est. Sheesh.