For the Love of a Tree
Julia Hill's Courageous Redwood Fight
What goes up must come down, but doing so took two years for Julia Butterfly Hill. She climbed up a thousand-year-old tree in Stafford, California and lived there for 738 days to protest the destruction of old growth forests and to keep the chainsaws away from the magnificent redwood she nicknamed Luna.
Her home was a plywood platform approximately 6'x8' in branches as high as an 18-story building. A tarp was her only protection against 90-mph winds during two intense winters. Friends brought her food and supplies that she hauled up by rope. She bathed with a bucket.
Hill, of Redway, California, says, “I climbed into Luna's branches knowing only that it was horribly wrong to turn beautiful forests into clearcuts and mudslides. I was determined not to let my feet touch the ground until I had done everything in my power to protect Luna and make the world aware of the plight of our ancient forests.�?/STRONG>
Seeing the devastation from a treetop perspective fueled her determination. While still in Luna's canopy, Hill used a cell phone to start the Circle of Life Foundation to carry on a daily campaign to “inspire, support and network individuals, organizations, and communities to create environmental and social solutions that are rooted deeply in love and respect for the interconnectedness of all life.�?/STRONG>
Hill's persistence led to successful negotiations to permanently protect the 1,000 year-old tree and a nearly three-acre buffer zone surrounding it.
On December 18, 1999 Julia Butterfly Hill, then 26, came down to a world that recognized her as the highly visible heroine of a struggle by environmentalists to preserve the last three percent of the ancient redwood ecosystem that is still standing.
Her courage and commitment has inspired millions of people worldwide: “We can make a positive difference through our actions.�?/STRONG>
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