UC Tightens Grip on Gill Tract, Occupiers Stay

Thursday saw an escalation on two fronts of the who took over the UC-owned Gill Tract in Albany on April 22.

For the first 16 days of the occupation, the university had not moved to restrict access for the several dozen urban-farm activists who moved into the site, set up a tent camp and began planting their own crops.

On Wednesday, campus authorities c that control access to the interior Edward Gill Drive, which runs east-west between San Pablo Avenue and Jackson Street and provides access to the fenced-in 15-acre Gill Tract. They also placed barriers across the open gate so that vehicles could not pass.

On Thursday, UC police shut the other gate, sealing off the tract, but occupiers continued to gain access by jumping over fences, an act that UC police did not seek to prevent. Supporters stood on the sidewalk along San Pablo Avenue just south of Marin Avenue, holding "We Dig the Farm" signs up to passing motorists, several of whom honked in apparent support.

Meanwhile at a rally about 6 p.m. of supporters outside the fence and occupiers perched on the inside of one of the gates within a few feet of UC police officers, the activists said they had expanded their planting area further south on UC property to encompass a plot where UC has proposed building a Whole Foods market. An hour before the rally, about half a dozen occupiers could be seen working in the same field where they began planting when .

The activists had confined their tent camp and planting to the cultivated portion of the Gill Tract north of Edward Gill Drive, where researchers from UC and the nearby U.S. Department of Agriculture branch have long grown crops for agricultural studies. With UC moving to secure the growing field in time for researchers to begin preparations for this year's growing season, the activists said they had moved their tents and begun planting also in the section south of Edward Gill Drive, where no cultivation was occurring. 

The activists object to long-term UC plans to remove the agricultural research and convert the tract to use for buildings and recreation and open space.

"What do you hear from the university?" a man shouted to the occupiers from the small throng of people at the rally who crowded around the newly closed gate at the north end of Edward Gill Drive at San Pablo Avenue.

"They want us to get the hell out!" shouted back one of the activists perched on the inside of the fence.

A new message from campus officials Thursday said, "We need to restore university control and supervision of the land to fulfill our academic mission, support academic freedom and honor our obligations to uphold the law and address growing concerns in the Albany community regarding the detrimental impact of the occupation. 

"We want to emphasize and repeat that once the land has been vacated and the university is in full control, we are committed to engaging in an active dialogue with all interested parties about the short- and long-term future of the Gill Tract. It is our intention to facilitate a win-win situation whereby the land can be shared by our researchers and those who wish to sustain urban farming on the property."

Such a dialogue "cannot occur solely with a self selected group of squatters," the university statement said.

On Wednesday, the university filed a civil suit against occupiers seeking a court order for their removal and for damages.

The Occupy the Farm group also issued a statement Thursday, copies of which were available their relocated information tent, which was set up Thursday out the newly closed gate next to San Pablo Avenue.

"This (UC sealing off the tract) represents the latest in a series of measures taken by the UC Administration to force the Farmers off this piece of public farmland. To date, the UCPD has cut off all water to the Gill Tract, incapacitated the fire hydrant on the land, placed concrete barriers around the land preventing vehicular access, and locked all entrances shut.

"Farmers note that these actions threaten more than just their plants: that in this dry, windy weather, which poses a high fire-risk, there are no working fire hydrants on the land, and significantly restricted access points for firefighters and exits for people on the land."

The group has also announced a "3 Week Anniversary Party!" and "Visioning Meeting for the Future of the Farm" at 5 p.m. Saturday at the north gate of Edward Gill Drive at San Pablo Avenue. (Their flyer is attached.)

For more details, background and extensive commentary on the Gill Tract occupation, see Albany Patch.

For past El Cerrito Patch articles on the occupation, click "Gill Tract" next to Related Topics below. For alerts to future El Cerrito Patch articles on the topic, click the Keep me posted button below.