Each fun faculty town has its legends, its quirky characters, its campy traditions and its unique histories. Mari Margil, associate director for Group Environmental Authorized Defense Fund (CELDF). Steven Brown, a board member for the Athens Historic Society. Certainly, this claim is written in stone, as properly: The tree features on its land a tablet that summarizes Jackson’s affections and needs for the tree. The story says that A Col. The Tree That What? The college promotes its traditions – amongst them, that students can’t walk beneath UGA’s famous Arch till they’ve graduated. The city is house to a white oak that additionally has a particular declare as a precursor to animal and environmental rights movements. The crux of human rights arguments centers on this: Nobody can legally personal (or sell, or hurt) you (unless you give them permission). Though it partly blocks the roadway, the tree is “accepted for care” by municipal authorities, in addition to those that stay on the road. Jackson’s will exist. Even if they did, they must be acknowledged by a courtroom. As Merullo, Margil and other specialists be aware, there are a few necessary caveats here. That means – technically – nobody can, say, cut it down without receiving permission from the tree itself, or a legal consultant of mentioned tree. So, the Athens oak has the very best stage of safety, proper? However back to tree legal matters – can a tree personal itself? In other phrases, Col. Jackson may’ve made a nice gesture again into the 1800s. But it surely has no authorized foundation. Athens, Georgia, the small city east of Atlanta, and residence to the University of Georgia, is not any exception. In line with lore, and a few (actually very shaky) historical backing, the 70-foot-tall (21-meter-tall) oak that plumbs its roots into the soil at the nook of South Finley and Dearing Streets in Athens seemingly enjoys a singular authorized standing: It allegedly owns itself, and the 8-foot (2.4-meter) perimeter around it. Well, no. Truly, it “has no ‘authorized standing’ on its own, however solely by means of correct legislation would it not acquire such rights,” says Victor D. Merullo, an Ohio-based mostly legal professional who makes a speciality of tree regulation. William Henry Jackson, the son of former Georgia Governor James Jackson, wanted to guard the tree, as it was on his family’s property and he had fond childhood recollections of it. However how did it earn that status? It means understanding ourselves as part of and dependent on nature. There are other twists and turns in the story, including the claim that the tree was not even positioned on Jackson’s property, and he thereby had no declare to the tree in the first place. The Tree That What? Herschel Walker, one in every of the best athletes of our time, gained the Heisman Trophy within the early ’80s whereas taking part in for the Bulldogs. The town additionally shows a double-barreled cannon from the Civil Struggle era, which sounds incredibly destructive however was actually thought of an engineering failure. What’s necessary to acknowledge, nevertheless, is that the residents of Athens, and town and county government, have honored the tree’s standing. In an effort led by Athens’ Junior Ladies Backyard Club, the so-known as ‘Son of the Tree That Owns Itself’ was planted from an acorn dropped by the unique. We need to make profound shifts in our regulation and culture – significant authorized and societal shifts are important pillars of any profitable motion – and with regard to nature, it means now not considering nature as one thing ‘other’ or separate from us. One other important be aware: The tree that stands right now shouldn’t be the unique ‘Tree That Owns Itself.’ That one fell in 1942 to old age and disease. Music legends REM and The B-52s (and lots of other influential bands) walked the grounds there. Like most issues authorized, it is complicated. For one, no printed records of Col. The tree’s identify can be one of those items of legal jargon that twists the brain somewhat and makes you suppose, “Wait, can something personal itself?” Of course, with most adult-age people, the answer is so obviously affirmative that we do not even consider it. A number of years ago,” tree lawyer Merullo says, “I heard a conservative radio commentator say that one of the best worth of timber is that they make good baseball bats. First of all, sure, the tree’s name says it all. Athens additionally has one thing that no different school has: The Tree That Owns Itself.