Blogger H. Rapp Brown has been on a one-blogger crusade to get someone – politicians, the media, tree-chaining greenies – to pay attention to the fact that today the great trees of Yerba Buena Island will begin to be chopped down.

It’s all extremely frustrating, Brown said. Attention must be paid, but it isn’t. Even the evergreen Guardian doesn’t seem to care. He said he told some of the lads from the newbie Bay Citizen and others about the approaching slaughter over drinks at Drinks at Chris Daly’s bar – the presumed center of political activism in the city – but so far only the silence of trees falling unseen in the forest.

It used to be religion in San Francisco that chopping down a tree was an act of sacrilege and the occasion of political outrage. Why doesn’t the media care enough to send a lousy helicopter over the island for film at eleven so viewers can at least watch in horror? Maybe somebody will – the chopping begins this morning and continues daily.

Here is Brown’s last plaintive blog sent out Monday – and a link to a You-Tube video he and a buddy made of the tree-killing preps:  Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb9AwpFCXnI

From: “h. brown” <h@ludd.net>

Date: January 18, 2011 4:18:14 PM PST

To: h@ludd.net

Subject: Unprotected Treasure Island trees to fall tomorrow

boys and girls,

Tomorrow (Wednesday, January 19th 2011) the

John Stewart Company contractors will begin major

logging of the forest on Yerba Buena Island.  Here

is the notice given residents.

They claim they need no permits because the

trees (many are magnificent 100 plus year old

Monterey pine)are not native.   In fact, they

are clearing views for the development planned

atop the hill which is presently sealed off from

prying cameras such as Tony De Renzo and I took

up there last week.

Some of you (such as Will Kane and the Chronicle)

could stop this if you wanted.   Just one TV crew

led by Dan Noyes would halt the destruction.

Will you act?

I’ve done all that I can.   Stewart says they need

no City permission because technically, since the

developer (Lennar – surprised?) hasn’t yet made a

payment to the Navy to change official ownership

and the Navy doesn’t give a shit what happens to

the trees.

You may need a helicopter to film this because the

security around the site is heavy now.

What a fucking travesty.

h.