Community supporting activist in tree sit

"Dolphin" sits high above the ground, far from any ocean, perched near the top of a large red oak. \n"You learn to be really aware of your surroundings when you're up in a tree," Dolphin says. "You can hear every step in the woods."\nTracy "Dolphin" McNeely lives on a tree platform as part of what Earth First! says is Indiana's first tree sit. Her goal is to avert development of 54 acres of woods on Bloomington's west side. \nBanners -- such as "Stop Urban Sprawl Now!" and "Developers Go Home!" -- hang from the side of the tree. McNeely vowed Tuesday she would not willingly descend until the developer, Indianapolis-based Herman and Associates, abandons plans to build a $15 million apartment complex on the land.\nFor the developer, it's entrepreneurship serving a good cause -- housing for middle-income families. The firm has already addressed environmental concerns and is complying with state and federal regulations.\n"We have been working on this project for over a year," said Jeff Kittle, vice president of Herman and Associates. "Last fall was to look at the (environmental) issue, and we are past that. We have financing and the mayor's full support."\nMonroe County Sheriff Steve Sharp informed McNeely Monday morning that she was trespassing. It's up to the land's owner, Bill Brown, whether to press charges. Sharp also informed McNeely's mother Donna and well-wishers that they were forbidden to camp underneath the tree.\nBut supporters still take turns on sentry duty around the clock, Donna McNeely said. Sheriff's deputies also stopped by Wednesday morning to check on McNeely's well-being. \nMany fellow environmentalists visit the "Bluebird Tree Sit" site off West Bloomfield Road, arriving throughout the day with supplies for the 19-year-old activist, who sits nestled in donated blankets some 50 feet above the forest floor. \nPackages consist of anything from vegan zucchini bread to spinach lasagna to Aver's pizzas. Steve Gill, an Aver's delivery man, donates his free shift pizza to McNeely and her ground crew. \nMcNeely surveys the surrounding trees and wildlife from her square plywood tree platform, 12 feet by 12 feet wide and capable of holding 16,000 pounds. Without using nails or spikes, the structure suspends itself from eight straps of nylon webbing rated at 2,000 pounds each. \nTheoretically, if one were to build such a structure, it would have to be built off-site, then carried in and pulled up the tree with a system of pulleys, she said. McNeely said she doesn't know who built the platform. \n"It was just here, and I moved in," she said.\nHer platform has all the comforts of home: a propane heater, a multi-fuel cooking stove, several afghans, a sleeping bag, a composting toilet and enough food and water to last several weeks without supplies.\nVarious books litter her living space -- including a copy of "The Legacy of Luna," the memoirs of Julia "Butterfly" Hill, an activist who spent two years in an ancient California redwood she named Luna to inform people about forest conservation. McNeely also has a digital phone. Although her water supply has frozen almost every night, with Wednesday's warmer weather, it nearly thawed. \nBrown's Woods has been zoned for commercial and residential development for 28 years, but this is the first time someone has taken action to build on it. \n"Being zoned for development is a lot different than bulldozers and chainsaws moving in to develop," McNeely said. \nSome local children arrived to check out the action in the canopy of the tree. One of them asked, "Isn't that illegal?" Donna McNeely replied, "Yes, it is." \nThe child responded, "Why don't they go up and arrest her?" \nMcNeely answered, "Have you ever seen a police officer climb a tree?" \nEivind Bjordal, a neighbor from Basswood apartments, on the adjacent property, said he talked about the issue with his children after they visited on the first day. \n"Even though it is illegal, it doesn't mean it is wrong," he said. "We came out here the other day and got lost. It's great to be in an urban area and get lost. It's a wonderful thing." \nMcNeely said she is willing to go to jail for the cause. Trespassing is a Class A misdemeanor in Monroe County. A conviction can carry up to two years in jail.\n"You have to sacrifice things for things that you love sometimes," she said. "Every day I'm up in this platform, I risk my freedom and I risk my safety. But if I save this forest, it will be there for a lifetime. I can give up a few days in jail for that."\nMcNeely sat in an Oregon tree at Fall Creek for 60 days last year with her mother. Now a Bloomington resident, she studied marine biology at Lane Community College in Eugene for a semester last year. That's how she acquired her nickname. She said she plans to return to Eugene when this has been settled. \n"I know my time up here is really important," she said. "I wake up every morning and thank this tree for letting me stay in it"