Tree-Sitter Hangs On During High Winds

Winds gusting up to 70 mph were not enough to drive activist John Quigley from his treetop perch Monday near Santa Clarita.

“It’s been a wild ride today,” Quigley said on Day 25 of his vigil in a 400-year-old oak that he and local environmentalists are trying to save. He said the winds had not shaken his resolve.

“I got word about the winds in the morning, so I cleaned house up here by tying everything down and double-strapping myself on,” Quigley said, gripping a branch and peering down from the door-sized plank he’s called home since Nov. 1.

Quigley was making plans to spend Thanksgiving in the tree, nicknamed Old Glory, “as long as it stands and doesn’t get blown over in this wind.”

The experienced tree-sitter was recruited by local environmentalists to help prevent the oak from being felled by developers.

Subdivision developer John Laing Homes plans to widen adjacent Pico Canyon Road from two lanes to four to accommodate future growth in the area.

Bill Rattazzi, president of John Laing Homes, announced last week that the company had decided to move the tree to a nearby park at a cost of more than $250,000.

Rattazzi has hired experts successful in transplanting oaks to oversee the operation. The job is expected to begin this week.

But Quigley and the tree supporters said they believe moving the giant oak will kill it.

Rosi Dagit, one of several certified arborists who examined the tree Monday, called it a “poor candidate for transplantation.”

“If you move the tree, you are not saving it,” said Dagit of the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains. “The tree might live five years, but it would be dying slowly, and all you’d have left is expensive firewood.”

Meanwhile, activists are making plans to continue their protest, even if it means going to jail for trespassing.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have made no arrests but could be required to do so if John Laing Homes -- which owns the property where the oak sits -- ask that Quigley and the protesters be forcibly removed.

On Sunday, the oak supporters conducted training sessions in nonviolent resistance. If there is an attempt to remove them, they said, it could be before Thanksgiving.

“Any attempt to destroy this tree -- and we believe that means moving it -- will be met with resistance,” activist Tom Barron said. “It depends on what level of obstruction is required. We have soccer moms out here who are willing to be arrested to save Old Glory.”

The protesters said some residents are planning to bring turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving with them under the tree.

Quigley said that as much as he would like to spend the holiday with his family at home in Pacific Palisades, he’ll be in the tree.