Although 19-year-old Chiara D’Angelo’s recent Bainbridge Island tree-sit protest of the Visconsi Cos. 62,000-square-foot shopping complex didn’t prevent the clearing of 830 trees off state Route 305 and High School Road, her efforts have inspired a song and music video that was posted to YouTube Monday.
Leif Utne’s original “Girl in a Tree” song and video features D’Angelo and other Bainbridge residents of all ages dancing and holding up handwritten pro-environment signs in various locations around the island. Honey Toad Studio, located on Bainbridge, helped Utne with the video’s production.
Below is a link to the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUVjSkt1QIY
As of 11:55 p.m. Wednesday, the video had received 1,728 views with 33 “likes” and two “dislikes.”
News of the video was starting to gain attention nationally. On Wednesday, Mother Earth News posted a story about it on its Facebook page and Kim Murphy, the Los Angeles Times’ assistant managing editor for foreign and national news, tweeted about it.
D’Angelo, a 2013 Bainbridge High graduate and a sophomore at Western Washington University, stayed approximately 41 hours on a wooden platform 70 feet up roped to an evergreen tree Aug. 18-19. She avoided being arrested for trespassing on Visconsi private property by making a deal before she came down from her perch, Bainbridge Island Police Deputy Police Chief Jeff Horn said.
Many islanders fought for more than a year against the 8.16-acre Visconsi shopping complex, which the Bainbridge Planning Commission unanimously rejected in November. It wasn’t until the island’s Hearing Examiner approved the project in March with 50 State Environmental Policy Act conditions that the shopping complex could move forward.
Five days before D’Angelo’s tree-sit protest began, a grade and fill permit with clearing was authorized by the city of Bainbridge for the property, which was zoned for commercial use.
Here’s a screen shot of the tweet posted by Kim Murphy of the Los Angeles Times.
We are trying to save the 16 square-mile Chico Watershed in Bremerton,WA. This is in the same county as Bainbride Island. It’s too bad these dedicated people won’t help us get out the word. We are trying. Craig Ueland is a hedge fund banker who is going to ship the rock to China. We sure could use some help. There are 5 salmon streams in the Chico Watershed.