Treesavers:

Since the New Year I have been caught up with Santa Monica Treesavers again (see "Ficus Tree" posts in December). The Landmarks Commission will be making a decision about the Ficus trees on 2nd and 4th Streets on January 14th, so we have been researching their history.

On January 3rd we held a 'vigil' by one of the Ficus Trees outside the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) building on 2nd Street. Afterwards, we were invited to hold a meeting in the Robert Redford room at the top of their amazing building. I say 'amazing' because it received the highest certification available for green building design- a Platinum rating- from the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. It is a showcase for what the NRDC stands for- everything has been thought through, from the site to the materials used. It was an exciting day for them as they had just had a break-through in getting the Navy to adopt significant measures for Sonar use- to protect Marine Mammals during exercises.

Above is a photo from the LA Times of some of the Treesavers. Perched on Activist Jerry Rubin's placard (to the right of the picture) is my head- reminiscent of John the Baptist?. The figure on the extreme left is Chris Paine, Director/Writer/Camera Operator of "Who Killed the Electric Car".

NRDC
Treesavers