Santa Cruz Sentinel
December 17th, 1991
By JOHN ROBINSON
Sentinel Staff Writer
SANTA CRUZ -- A battle over logging on the edge of the UCS Santa Cruz area known as Elfland erupted Monday morning as 38 protestors were arrested, many while they ran through the forest as trees fell around them.
No one was seriously injured despite a multitude of confrontations between angry demonstrators and dozens of aggressive university police brought to UCSC from other campuses.
By the end of the day most of the large redwood trees standing in the way at the College Nine and Ten building site had been cut, and the ranks of protesters slashed to only a few stragglers.
"I am not happy it's done, but I am relieved," said UCSC Chancellor Karl Pister. "Contrary to what some people might think, I don't take any pleasure from the cutting of the trees."
Close to 200 trees, about 40 of which were more than two feet in diameter, were to be cut to make way for College Nine and areas of College Ten, across from the Student Health Center.
The cutting and planned construction is on the edge, and some say partially in, an area known as Elfland, a place of refuge considered sacred by some students and protesters who vowed to stop the logging.
"We weren't listened to before, and we aren't being listened to now," said Edda Ehrke, of the Coalition to Move College Nine and Ten.
Dawn broke with a wall of university police moving through the forest, arresting anyone who refused to leave after a warning. Dozens of other protesters, however, remained hidden in the woods, waiting for the sound of chainsaws before emerging.
At the entrance to the site, about 35 protesters gathered before police from UC Berkeley and UC Davis, who allowed no compromise with the demonstrators.
It was peaceful until about 9 a.m., when a caravan of loggers and equipment arrived at the gate to the harvest area.
As a logging tractor started to drive in, a man stepped in front to stop it, and was immediately set upon by five officers who fell in a pile upon the man, twisting his arms and legs into police control holds as the man yelled and tried to roll away.
Other police began swinging clubs and shoving the demonstrators back. The arrests increased as a handful of demonstrators tried to stop the logging vehicles.
Soon, however, the sound of chainsaws could be heard, along with the cracking break and boom of falling trees. In the forest, flashes of demonstrators could be seen charging through the woods, with officers in pursuit.
As cries of outrage rose from the demonstrators, others came from the woods, claiming police were beating protesters bloody -- a charge never confirmed.
A cameraman from KSBW Channel 8, however, was hurt by a UC Berkeley police officer when tackled from behind as he left an area on the officer's orders. The officer grabbed the cameraman by the neck, swinging him to the ground and landing upon him with his knees, while the television camera and recorder slid down the hill.
The officer then turned on a Sentinel reporter, photographer, and UCSC public relation's official, threatening to arrest them.
The cameraman was handcuffed and led away before senior UCSC officials obtained his release a short time later.
Cameraman John Torigoe said his wrists were injured and his camera damaged.
UCSC officials apologized after the incident.
"I am very sorry there was a police incident," Pister said. "Rest assured that the whole matter is under investigation and is being taken very seriously."
Of the 38 arrested, eight were identified as UCSC students, campus spokesman Robert Irion said. Most were booked and released, he said, but by early evening, some had not identified themselves and were still in jail.
The operation was also difficult for Big Creek Lumber Co. loggers, who no only had to ensure the trees fell properly, but that no protesters were in the area to get hurt.
"People would rush in like guerrilla warfare and try to disrupt the operation," said Bud McCrary, owner of Big Creek Lumber. "Our people would see the motion of someone moving and blow an air horn, and then the police would rush in and grab them."
The university asked Big Creek Lumber to do the work due to their reputation in the industry for environmentally responsible lumbering.
Trees were cut and bucked in a matter of minutes, with large trees falling perfectly between the smaller trees around them, sometimes with only inches to spare.
Among the trees cut were one group that contained a structure of branches and "altar" with an offering, common to the Elfland area.
"It's been going very smoothly, with no problems beyond the obvious," said Sara Kane, UCSC project manager for College Nine and Ten.
With the tree removal, Kane said the university will soon begin grading roads and building the academic buildings and later apartments for College Nine. College Ten has not been funded by the state.
The university was given approval to log the area earlier this month after the state refused to hear a harvest appeal filed by the county.
An attorney for the activists attempted to get an emergency restraining order to stop the logging Monday afternoon, but was refused by Superior Court Judge Samuel Stevens. He ruled the group's request lacked adequate reasons to issue the order. Stevens, however, is giving the group another chance today.
But most of the trees the group is trying to save are now cut, and there appears little chance of the group slowing construction by legal means, according to the group's attorney.
"I think the university has been a total coward on this," said Brant Smith, Student Union Assembly member, who lobbied against the college site. "It's a lot easier to put cops in front of a building site than to reach a public consensus."
Chancellor Pister said he went forward with the cutting plan over the holiday break, when school was not in session, due to safety considerations and construction schedules.
"There has been no hidden agenda," Pister said. "We were faced with this alternative, and I saw no other. ... I'll certainly be glad when this day is over."
Some protesters vowed to return to the site today, but by 4 p.m. Monday it looked like the fight was all but over. Police lounged against a fence, chainsaws roared unchallenged, and only and handful of demonstrators remained.
"We tried everything," said activist Bob DeBolt.
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