Visitors frequently came to the site bringing donations of food, books and batteries after the media broke the story and word began to spread. Her ground support team made a camp in the clearing at the base of the tree. A few white plastic patio chairs, a padded stool, a milk crate, a low wooden platform about the height of a footrest, and a pile of supplies covered by ponchos at the base of a small sapling form a semi-circle facing Tracey's platform. If her platform were on the ground, it would complete the circle's open side. A petition rests on a milk crate at the base of the tree for visitors who oppose the proposed development to sign.
Names fill page after page.
Donna McNeely is Tracey's mother and principal supporter. Crouched over a camp stove in jeans and hiking boots, her strawberry blond hair out over the collar of her jacket, she has the look of an environmental veteran. Active in environmental causes since 1994, when she attended a forest congress in Washington D.C., she has dedicated her life's work to environmental preservation. When she is not at the base of Tracey's tree, she washes and dries clothes at a Laundromat, canvases neighborhoods to raise awareness, collects signatures, or speaks out at public meetings in opposition to the development. Tracey's dog, Guya, an Australian shepherd mix with spots on her back like a dappled gray pony, is usually at the site.