About Julia Butterfly Hill:

Julia Lorraine Hill (known as Julia Butterfly Hill, born February 18, 1974) is an American environmental activist. She is best known for having lived in a 180-foot (55 m)-tall, roughly 1500-year-old California redwood tree for 738 days between December 10, 1997, and December 18, 1999. Hill lived in the tree, affectionately known as Luna, to prevent Pacific Lumber Company loggers from cutting it down. She is the author of the 2000 book The Legacy of Luna and co-author of One Makes the Difference.

Summary:

Hill had been in a bad car accident in Arkansas in 1996 and had survived. Her short-term memory and motor skills returned after a year of therapy. When she recovered, she resolved to travel the world and visit spiritual sites. Her neighbors invited her to go on a road trip to the West Coast with them. They were passing by when a stranger told them they had to see the redwoods in California. Even though Hill had just begun her travels, she felt called to try to protect the remaining majestic redwoods. Despite the fact that only about 3% of the original forests remained, logging continued. Hill was unsure whether or not to trust this new calling at first. So she prayed to the Universal Spirit for guidance, and she found herself at ease with her decision to stay, which she interpreted as the universe's approval.

The Department of Forestry granted permission to continue logging on the very next slope, despite evidence that clearcutting had destabilized the hillside and caused the mudslide. The tree that became known as Luna grew on that slope. A slash of blue paint was used to mark the redwood for destruction. A group of activists had set up a tree-sit but were having difficulty finding people to stay there. The temperature was dropping. The base camp was being dismantled in preparation for the protest to come to an end for the season. She wanted to do more because she knew Luna would be cut down as soon as the tree-sitters left. Hill believed that by staying longer, she would be able to continue to raise awareness about the plight of the redwood forests and put pressure on the logging company to change its plans and allow Luna and the surrounding grove to survive. Five people promised to keep Hill supplied with food and necessities.

On December 10, 1997, she climbed the tree. For the majority of those two years, she was cold and wet. There was no electricity or heat. There is no artificial light. She was prepared with a sleeping bag, a solar-powered cell phone for media interviews, and a single-burner propane stove for cooking and heating water. She didn't have many necessities and none at all. She had occasional visitors, including fellow tree-sitters who stayed the night or brought supplies, as well as a couple of celebrities, spiders, birds, and mice. No one could have predicted how long Hill would be stuck in Luna or the trials she would face. The logging company decided early on to starve her out or drive her away. They hired security guards 24 hours a day, seven days a week to harass her and prevent her support team from delivering her supplies. A helicopter approached her at a dangerously close range. A nearby tree fell, striking Luna's outer branches and nearly knocking Hill down. She was verbally abused, threatened with violence, rape, and death, and kept awake at night by floodlights, bugles, and air horns.

During those two years, she had many more adventures. Her feet were once completely black due to painful frostbite. Her hair stood straight up when lightning struck nearby during an electrical storm. Her ears rang for weeks due to nearby helicopter logging. The leftover stumps and debris were then set on fire on the entire slope for six days. Her eyes swelled almost completely shut, and the thick smoke that surrounded her burned her throat and lungs.

Hill, on the other hand, had a lot of wonderful experiences. Despite the skepticism often directed at environmentalists, Hill was named one of the most admired women in America by Good Housekeeping Magazine. Steelworkers on strike told her she had inspired them. Students in fifth and sixth grades at a Wisconsin school corresponded with her, and some even followed her advice to reuse paper in order to protect forests. Hundreds of people wrote to thank her for bringing deforestation to the public's attention.

She also had the ongoing support of her dedicated team, who hiked in three times a week for two hours each way to keep her stocked with food and necessities, sometimes outwitting security guards in the process. Hill finally reached an agreement with the logging company, and on December 18, 1999, he climbed down to walk on the ground again successful in saving Luna and some surrounding trees. Through their efforts, thousands more people learned about deforestation and its many ill effects.