Calif. tree-sitters clinging to lofty goal

BERKELEY, Calif., Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Four protesters who have spent the last 21 months living in a redwood tree in Berkeley, Calif., say they have no intention of giving up their cause.

One of the tree-sitters who identified himself as Huckleberry said he and his fellow protesters plan on maintaining their fight to protect 44 area trees from being cut down to make room for an athletic training center, the San Francisco Chronicle said Friday.

"If they want me down, they will have to drag me down," Huckleberry said Thursday.

Meanwhile, University of California-Berkeley Vice Chancellor Nathan Brostrom said in a statement that the school is intent on ending the demonstration without incident.

"We will continue to do everything possible to avoid having to forcibly remove these people," Brostrom said. "The last thing we want is for anyone -- our officers or the protesters -- to be injured as the result of this misguided effort."

The Chronicle said there is currently an order banning the removal of the trees to make way for the university project, but a judge is hearing arguments next Monday to determine if that ban should be lifted.