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Julia Butterfly Hill

Julia Butterfly Hill is an activist and environmentalist best known for living in a 180-foot (55 m)-tall, 600-year-old California Redwood tree for 738 days between December 10, 1997 to December 18, 1999. Hill lived in the tree, affectionately known as “Luna,” to prevent loggers of the Pacific Lumber Company from cutting it down.

Being Beneath the Dirt

Hill suffered a severe brain injury in a car crash a year before her tree-sitting experience. She embarked on a spiritual quest afterwards and came away believing that human beings could transform themselves; this eventually led her to the environmental cause opposed to the destruction of the redwood forests in Humboldt County, California.

Branching Out Roots for Balance

Originally, Hill was not officially affiliated with any environmental organization, deciding by herself to undertake the act of civil disobedience. Soon, Hill was actively supported by Earth First!, among other organizations and volunteers. She and other activists founded the organization Circle of Life Foundation.

Rising like a Surfacing Stem

Midway through Julia’s tree sit, a benefit concert was played at the Mateel Community Center in Redway, California. Performing artists included Bob Weir and Mark Karan as an acoustic duet, the Steve Kimock Band, and the Mickey Hart Band. Julia also participated in the event, reading her poem “Luna” via telephone while the Mickey Hart Band performed.

Reaching Fruition

A resolution was reached in 1999 when the Pacific Lumber Company agreed to preserve Luna and all trees within a 3-acre (12,000 m2) buffer zone. In exchange, Hill agreed to vacate the tree. In addition, $50,000 that Hill and other activists raised during the cause was given to the logging company, as stipulated by the resolution. The $50,000 Earth First! paid to Pacific Lumber was then donated to a local university to do research about sustainable forestry.

Leaving a Legacy

Hill was the subject of the 2000 documentary film Butterfly, and she is featured in the documentary film Tree-Sit: The Art of Resistance, both chronicling her time in the redwood tree. A film about Hill called Luna is scheduled for release in 2009, directed by noted Indian director, Deepa Mehta.

Disclaimer: Mud Puds bios are derived from widely-accepted “truths,” as shared in the Public Domain. In the absence of first-hand accounts, information is presented as: “Factual, as far as we know.”