The Tree House and the Oil Pipeline

"The tree house was situated in an unlovely strip of forest a few hundred yards wide, squeezed between a six-lane highway and a freight rail line, on the drab gray edge of Vancouver. Cars flowed by at all hours, creating a wash of noise broken now and then by the metallic din of passing trains. It was hideous, really, this forgotten little corner of the modern world."

"But then the tree house was not designed for beauty, or enjoyment, or whimsy. It was a tool. Its purpose was to block the construction of an oil pipeline slated to run along that narrow tract of land."

"The floor was a large sheet of graffitied plywood, and the roof was covered with a pair of heavy plastic tarps. Under those tarps was a small camping tent, in theory to keep out mosquitoes and mice, although at some point mice chewed a hole through it, allowing mosquitoes to sneak through as well."

An activist lived in a makeshift tree house constructed in a narrow forest strip between a highway and freight rail line near Vancouver. The structure, built from plywood, tarps, and a camping tent, housed basic supplies including food, books on climate activism, and protest materials. Despite harsh conditions including noise pollution, exhaust fumes, and pest problems, the tree house served a specific purpose: to obstruct construction of an oil pipeline planned to run through that location. The activist's presence in the tree represented direct action environmentalism, using physical occupation as a strategy to prevent fossil fuel infrastructure development.

Read at The New Yorker