Dear Joey Consos and Peter Consos, Consos Properties

We the undersigned implore you to not cut down the sacred redwood tree, Conscience, on your real estate investment site at 1521 Stuart Street, Berkeley CA. 1521 Stuart Street was the home of a beloved Japanese family for decades. They stewarded many trees on the land. During WWII, the family was imprisoned at an internment camp.  Their friend maintained the home and land, including paying the mortgage and property taxes.  When the family was freed, they were able to move back into their home and continue caring for the land.

Today, this redwood, 良心 Conscience (aka Ryoushin, meaning Conscience in Japanese) , and its companion pine tree, Matsunoki (meaning pine tree in Japanese -  松の木), stand as the tallest trees on the block, and some of the tallest trees in the whole neighborhood.  For generations, they have been beacons of hope and refuge for a plethora of wildlife. Coastal redwoods are one of the best tree carbon sinks on earth, storing ~250 tons of carbon over their multi-century lifespan. Redwoods also reduce heating and cooling costs, remove air pollution, capture stormwater, and mitigate the urban heat island effect.  Plus, they have the potential to increase property values.

As fellow Berkeley residents, we know that you, the Consos family, care about this gem of a city and its treasures. 

The City of Berkeley is aware that it needs more trees and has an active initiative to plant trees on public property throughout its neighborhoods. Planting new trees is wonderful, and even more ideal is preserving existing trees such as 良心 Conscience that have the potential to live long lives. Redwoods are at the top of the list of trees that are native, drought tolerant, provide habitat, support clean air and a livable climate, and increase the quality of life.

In the 1920s, an entire orchard was planted on this land.  Over the years, several of these fruit trees were unfortunately cut down, but plum trees, an apple tree, and a pear tree remain. We hope Consos Properties will protect these trees as well.

We know this is an investment property for Consos Properties and as such, generating income is your primary objective. We realize that development generally involves disrupting the land and some level of change is inevitable. At the same time, there are ways to achieve a return on your investment while protecting 良心 Conscience. The right buyer or renter would pay a premium to live next to such a beautiful heritage redwood tree.

良心 Conscience the redwood has stood in this spot for generations, and has the potential to outlive many generations of our descendants. We respectfully request that you do not cut down 良心 Conscience. Instead, allow many more generations of humans and wildlife enjoy the splendor of and gifts bestowed upon us by 良心 Conscience.

Cc: Mayor Adena Ishii, City of Berkeley

Councilmember Ben Bartlett, City of Berkeley, District 3 

Administrator Susan S. Muranishi, Alameda County

Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas, Alameda County, District 5

Senator Jesse Arreguín, California State Senate, District 7 

Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, California State Assembly, District 14

Gavin Newsom, Governor, State of California

Senator Alex Padilla, United States Senate, California

Senator Adam Schiff, United States Senate, California

Representative Lateefah Simon, United States House of Representatives, District CA-12

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The Mercury News

Berkeleyside

East Bay Express

Berkeley Patch

Daily Californian

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Save the Redwoods League

Berkeley Tenants Union

Berkeley Climate Action Coalition

Berkeley Climate Change Network

Transition Berkeley

Environment California

Environmental Defense Center

Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice

The Nature Conservancy in California

Sierra Club of California

Sustainable Conservation

Asian Pacific Environmental Network

Natural Resources Defense Council