10-29A Give Nature a Right to Self-Defense

There’s a white oak tree in Athens, Georgia, that is not owned by anyone. It’s an autonomous entity – known as the “Tree that Owns Itself.”

Around the 1820s, the owner of the property wrote a formal deed proclaiming: “…in consideration of the great love I bear this tree and the great desire I have for its protection, for all time, I convey entire possession of itself and all land within eight feet of the tree on all sides.”