FAU Graduates' Tree-sit Protests Expansion of Scripps Biotech onto the Briger Tract

Everglades Earth First! activists Russ and Rachel are taking the issue of endangered species protection to new heights! They are suspended 30 feet up in the air to protest the plans for development of the "FAU/Scripps Bio-tech City" on the Briger Forest Tract.

Law Enforcement with the Florida Department of Transportation and City of Palm Beach Gardens have promised to arrest the tree-sitters if they do not leave the sit. Both Russ and Rachel are holding tight!

A joint statement from the tree-sitters states, “As FAU graduates and Palm Beach County residents we are dismayed at the lack of protection for the Endangered Species on the FAU/Scripps development site. The Scripps “bio-tech city” plan promotes sprawl and will destroy endangered species located on the Briger Forest Tract. We have tried legal means to protect the site, but the developers and politicians have ignored our concerns. If the state and county refuse to protect endangered species then we must take action to preserve the remaining natural beauty of Florida.”

In conjunction with the tree-sit, forty protesters converged at the existing FAU/Scripps Florida where Jupiter and FAU campus police briefly detained at least one person.

This will just be the first direct action of many to preserve the Briger Forest and the endangered species that depend on it. Everglades Earth First! activists plan to maintain a presence on the site to ensure no endangered species habitat is destroyed, and no animals are abused in the proposed vivisection labs.

The media has been paying attention- check out some of the news stories about this exciting action:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/tree-sitting-couple-try-to-catch-attention-of-1252923.html

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_n_palm_beach_county/palm_beach_gardens/construction-site-protest-in-palm-beach-gardens-

http://equalogy.com/florida-tree-sitters

Hoo-ray for Russ and Rachel! Stay tuned for more updates!

DONATE - to help us support the tree-sitters with future bail and legal costs! Donations can be made via Paypal to "lynnejpurvis@gmail.com"

HELP THE TREE-SIT - We will have an on-going vigil to ensure the safety of these brave activists. We can be reached by email or calling 561-249-2071

FOR MORE INFO on Scripps and the Briger Forest check out:
http://pbcec.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=wS13Jy4BAAA.ufIc5o6jSJD2GRoiHEgwWg.OqacC3xPuorFTK89QOOxyg&postId=1892216788202638346&type=POST

Our Demands for FAU

1) If FAU wants truly to be a place of academic integrity then it must support a vetting process of Scripps with its students, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community. We have a right to know exactly what is happening on our campus.

2) We want FAU to host a series of publicized debates on animal experimentation, biotechnology, and the ethical history of the Scripps corporation. We welcome a lively debate which can explore all sides of the issues.

3) We want an oversight and ethical board comprised of FAU students chosen from and by the FAU student body, to carry out routine inspections of Scripps research facilities and to have access to information and oversight rights to potential research projects including animal vivisection.

What is wrong with Scripps Biotech?

Scripps Florida is a biotech corporation funded by State tax dollars, the department of defence, and other government and private sectors. Though it is headquartered in La Jolla, California, Scripps Florida is located on the Jupiter Campus of Florida Atlantic University. Three new Scripps facilities opened on campus in February of this year. The ribbion cutting ceremony included the usual suspects, Gov. Christ, Scripps CEO and longtime tobacco industry goon, Richard Lerner, and the bought and paid commissioners of several nearby municipalities.

Scripps has a long history of animal experimentation, including the vivisection of primates, cats, dogs, and rodents. Though public scrutiny of animal vivisection is all but absent at the facilities on at the Jupiter Campus of FAU, a recent study by a Scripps scientist attests to the deliberate infection of over one hundred macaque primates with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (also known as "mad cow disease.")

Worst of all, Scripps Florida is attempting to expand across the street from FAU to the beautiful pine flatwoods ecosystem of the Briger Tract. At 900 acres, the Briger Tract is one of the few remaining forests of any measure left in the area. It is home to endangered species such as the gopher tortoise, the gopher frog, indigo snakes, nesting bald eagles, osprey, and many types of endangered flora. It is also lush with saw palmettos, the berries of which provide medicine for several ailments. It is telling that Scripps is attempting to clear cut and replace a medicinal forest with bio-pharmacueticals that will be patented and corporatly owned in a process some call 'bio-colonization.'

As students of Florida Atlantic University, regardless of what campus we attend, we must speak out against the torturous and environmentally unsound projects that are carried out on, and supported by, Florida Atlantic University, which is supported by our tuition.