Last tree-sitter gives up his lofty development protest

Associated Press

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A tree-sitter protesting a planned housing development came down from the upper branches of a 90-foot red oak Saturday, thirsty and worried for his safety.

Michael Englert, the 30-year-old previously known only as "Moss," was arrested for trespassing on the 50-acre wooded plot that environmental activists have targeted since March.

He had said earlier in the day that he was hoping for rain to replenish his water supply. But rain never came, and the day grew hot and humid.

"He was out of water, and he was getting weak," said Ruth Hanford, 22, who was brought down from a tree perch and arrested Friday. "This isn’t over yet. Just because he was the last person in there, it isn’t over."

Opponents of the planned low-income apartments were taken by surprise Friday when construction workers and nearly 30 state police and sheriff’s officers raided the woods, removing three tree-sitters — including Hanford — and everyone on the grounds. A bulldozer tore a path through dense woods, and authorities used a hydraulic lift to rise into the branches and arrest protesters.

Englert eluded them by climbing higher up the red oak, taking with him a supply of food and a hammock from the platform he’d been living on. Construction workers destroyed the platform but couldn’t go high enough to reach the protester.

Early Saturday, five men and a woman chained themselves together arm-to-arm and attached themselves to sewer grates beside a road at the site. It took police more than an hour to free the prone protesters, who were arrested along with a bystander. That brought the total number of arrests since Friday to 17.

Environmentalists have demonstrated at the woods since March 22, saying the area is not suited for the planned 208-unit complex.

The Indianapolis-based developer said construction will begin this month.

A private security company is watching the site 24 hours a day. In the past in Bloomington and surrounding counties, radical environmental groups such as the Earth Liberation Front have sabotaged heavy equipment and committed other acts of vandalism in an attempt to stop urban sprawl.

About 25 people gathered along the dead-end road that leads into the woods Saturday afternoon, planning what steps they would take now that the last tree-sitter was gone.

"We still care deeply about this forest, as with all forests," said Shane Becker, 21, who earlier Saturday had been part of the chain of people blocking the road.