Julia Butterfly Hill
Encyclopedia
Julia Butterfly Hill is an American activist and environmentalist
. Hill is best known for living in a 180 feet (54.9 m)-tall, roughly 1500-year-old California Redwood tree (age based on first-hand ring count of a slightly smaller neighboring ancient redwood that had been cut down) for 738 days between December 10, 1997 and December 18, 1999. Hill lived in the tree
, affectionately known as "Luna
," to prevent loggers of the Pacific Lumber Company
from cutting it down. She is the author of the book The Legacy of Luna
and co-author of One Makes the Difference. She is a vegan.
with her father, mother and two younger brothers. While traveling with her family, Hill would often explore rivers by campgrounds. When Hill was six years old, she and her family were taking a hike one day and a butterfly landed on her finger and stayed with her the entire time. From that day on, her nickname became "Butterfly." She decided to use that as her nickname for the rest of her life.
When Hill was in middle school, her family stopped travelling and settled in Jonesboro, Arkansas
. In August 1996, at age 22, Hill suffered a near-fatal car crash. At the time, Hill was acting as designated driver
for a friend who had been drinking. Her friend's car was hit from behind by a drunk driver. The steering wheel of the car penetrated her skull; it took almost a year of intensive therapy before she regained the ability to speak and walk normally.
Hill embarked on a spiritual quest afterwards, leading her to the environmental cause opposed to the destruction of the redwood forests in Humboldt County
, California
. "The steering wheel in my head, both figuratively and literally, steered me in a new direction in my life," Hill says.
to California and attended a reggae
fundraiser to save the forests. A group of "front-liners" had been rotating tree sitters in and out of giant redwoods in Humboldt County every couple of days to stave off Pacific Lumber Co. loggers who were clear-cutting. Organizers wanted someone to stay in the tree a week. "Nobody else would volunteer so they had to pick me," says Hill.
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.
On December 10, 1997, Hill ascended 180 feet (54.9 m) up the Redwood Tree, Luna
.
Hill lived on two six-by-six-foot platforms for 738 days. Luna's trunk was her sidewalk and exercise treadmill. Hill learned many survival skills while living in Luna, such as "seldom washing the soles of her feet, because the sap helped her feet stick to the branches better." Hill used solar-powered cell phones for radio interviews, became an "in-tree" correspondent for a cable television show and hosted TV crews to protest old-growth clear cutting. With ropes, Hill hoisted up survival supplies brought by an eight-member support crew. To keep warm, Hill wrapped herself tight in a sleeping bag, leaving only a small hole for breathing. For meals, Hill used a single-burner propane stove. Throughout her ordeal, Hill weathered freezing rains and 40 mi/h. winds from El Niño, helicopter harassment, a ten-day siege by company security guards, and intimidation by angry loggers.
A resolution was reached in 1999 when the Pacific Lumber Company
agreed to preserve Luna and all trees within a 200 foot buffer zone
. In exchange, Hill agreed to vacate the tree. In addition, the $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 Humboldt State University
as part of the agreement for research into sustainable forestry.
The tree was later cut with a chainsaw by vandals. The gash to the 200 feet (61 m)-tall redwood was discovered November 2000 by one of Hill's supporters. Observers at the scene said the cut measured 32 inches (812.8 mm) deep and 19 feet (5.8 m) around the base, somewhat less than half the circumference of the tree. The gash was treated with an herbal remedy and the tree was stabilized with steel cables. As of spring 2007, the tree is doing well with new growth each year. Caretakers routinely climb the tree to check on its condition and to maintain the steel guywire
s.
(holding some 250 events a year), a best-selling author and the co-founder of the Circle of Life Foundation
(which helped organize We The Planet, an eco-friendly music tour) and the Engage Network, a nonprofit that trains small groups of civic leaders to work toward social change.
On July 16, 2002, Hill was jailed in Quito
, Ecuador
outside the offices of Occidental Petroleum
, for protesting a proposed oil pipeline that would penetrate a virgin Andean
cloud forest
that teems with rare birds. "The cloud forest is stunning," said Hill. "It's this deep, lush green, spangled with explosions of red, yellow and purple from the flowers, birds and insects. But the environmental destruction we saw along the pipelines that had already been built was horrendous." Ecuadorian President Gustavo Noboa
commented, "The little gringos have been arrested, including the old cockatoo
who climbs trees." Hill was later deported from Ecuador.
In 2003, Hill became a proponent of tax redirection
, resisting payment of about $150,000 in federal taxes, donating that money to after-school programs, arts and cultural programs, community gardens, programs for Native Americans
, alternatives to incarceration, and environmental protection programs. She said:
In 2006, Hill protested the sale of the South Central Farm
in an attempt to save the 14 acres (56,656 m²) farm from developers.
In an April 2009 interview, Hill pondered what would come next for her:
and has influenced numerous musicians.
A benefit concert was played at the Mateel Community Center in Redway, CA during Julia's "tree sit", on December 10, 1998. Artists performing were Bob Weir
and Mark Karan
as an acoustic duet, the Steve Kimock
Band and the Mickey Hart
Band. Julia took part in the event, reading her poem "Luna" via telephone while the Mickey Hart Band was performing "The Dancing Sorcerer".
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.
The 12th season episode "Lisa the Tree Hugger
" of The Simpsons
was conceived when writer Matt Selman
heard a news story about Hill.
and starring Rachel Weisz
. However, the film has been stuck in development hell
; Weisz has actively worked towards getting the project off the ground.
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
. Hill is best known for living in a 180 feet (54.9 m)-tall, roughly 1500-year-old California Redwood tree (age based on first-hand ring count of a slightly smaller neighboring ancient redwood that had been cut down) for 738 days between December 10, 1997 and December 18, 1999. Hill lived in the tree
Tree sitting
Tree sitting is a form of environmentalist civil disobedience in which a protester sits in a tree, usually on a small platform built for the purpose, to protect it from being cut down...
, affectionately known as "Luna
Luna (Redwood Tree)
Luna is the American name given to a coast redwood tree in October 1997. This tree has also been referred to as the 'Stafford Giant.' The tree is between 600 and 1000 years old and lives in an old growth forest--Headwaters Forest, in Humboldt County, California near the small community of...
," to prevent loggers of the Pacific Lumber Company
Pacific Lumber Company
The Pacific Lumber Company, officially abbreviated PALCO, was one of California's major logging and sawmill operations, located south of Eureka and north of San Francisco. The once storied company and its historically positive relationship with conservationists begun in the 1920s was altered...
from cutting it down. She is the author of the book The Legacy of Luna
The Legacy of Luna
The Legacy of Luna is a book written by Julia Butterfly Hill about her experiences while protecting a tree named "Luna." It is based on a true story, written like a diary of two years spent in an ancient redwood....
and co-author of One Makes the Difference. She is a vegan.
Early life
Hill's father was a traveling preacher and went town to town, bringing his family with him. Until she was about ten years old, Hill lived in a 32 feet (9.8 m) camperCampervan
A campervan , sometimes referred to simply as a camper, or a caravanette, is a self-propelled vehicle that provides both transport and sleeping accommodation. The term mainly describes vans that have been fitted out, often with a coachbuilt body for use as accommodation...
with her father, mother and two younger brothers. While traveling with her family, Hill would often explore rivers by campgrounds. When Hill was six years old, she and her family were taking a hike one day and a butterfly landed on her finger and stayed with her the entire time. From that day on, her nickname became "Butterfly." She decided to use that as her nickname for the rest of her life.
When Hill was in middle school, her family stopped travelling and settled in Jonesboro, Arkansas
Jonesboro, Arkansas
Jonesboro is a city in and one of the two county seats of Craighead County, Arkansas, United States. According to the 2010 US Census, the population of the city was 67,263. A college town, Jonesboro is the largest city in northeastern Arkansas and the fifth most populous city in the state...
. In August 1996, at age 22, Hill suffered a near-fatal car crash. At the time, Hill was acting as designated driver
Designated driver
The terms "designated driver" and "designated driving" refer to selecting a person to remain sober, as the driver of a vehicle, while others are allowed to drink to excess . A designated driver is a person who abstains from alcohol on a social occasion in order to drive his/her companions home safely...
for a friend who had been drinking. Her friend's car was hit from behind by a drunk driver. The steering wheel of the car penetrated her skull; it took almost a year of intensive therapy before she regained the ability to speak and walk normally.
Hill embarked on a spiritual quest afterwards, leading her to the environmental cause opposed to the destruction of the redwood forests in Humboldt County
Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. "The steering wheel in my head, both figuratively and literally, steered me in a new direction in my life," Hill says.
Tree sit
After recuperating from her accident, Hill took a road tripRoad trip
A road trip is any journey taken on roads, regardless of stops en route. Typically, road trips are long distances traveled by automobile.-Pre-automobile road trips:...
to California and attended a reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
fundraiser to save the forests. A group of "front-liners" had been rotating tree sitters in and out of giant redwoods in Humboldt County every couple of days to stave off Pacific Lumber Co. loggers who were clear-cutting. Organizers wanted someone to stay in the tree a week. "Nobody else would volunteer so they had to pick me," says Hill.
Originally, Hill was not officially affiliated with any environmental organization, deciding by herself to undertake the act of civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
. Soon, Hill was actively supported by Earth First!
Earth First!
Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that emerged in the Southwestern United States in 1979. It was co-founded on April 4th, 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, and less directly, Bart Koehler and Ron Kezar....
, among other organizations and volunteers.
On December 10, 1997, Hill ascended 180 feet (54.9 m) up the Redwood Tree, Luna
Luna (Redwood Tree)
Luna is the American name given to a coast redwood tree in October 1997. This tree has also been referred to as the 'Stafford Giant.' The tree is between 600 and 1000 years old and lives in an old growth forest--Headwaters Forest, in Humboldt County, California near the small community of...
.
Hill lived on two six-by-six-foot platforms for 738 days. Luna's trunk was her sidewalk and exercise treadmill. Hill learned many survival skills while living in Luna, such as "seldom washing the soles of her feet, because the sap helped her feet stick to the branches better." Hill used solar-powered cell phones for radio interviews, became an "in-tree" correspondent for a cable television show and hosted TV crews to protest old-growth clear cutting. With ropes, Hill hoisted up survival supplies brought by an eight-member support crew. To keep warm, Hill wrapped herself tight in a sleeping bag, leaving only a small hole for breathing. For meals, Hill used a single-burner propane stove. Throughout her ordeal, Hill weathered freezing rains and 40 mi/h. winds from El Niño, helicopter harassment, a ten-day siege by company security guards, and intimidation by angry loggers.
A resolution was reached in 1999 when the Pacific Lumber Company
Pacific Lumber Company
The Pacific Lumber Company, officially abbreviated PALCO, was one of California's major logging and sawmill operations, located south of Eureka and north of San Francisco. The once storied company and its historically positive relationship with conservationists begun in the 1920s was altered...
agreed to preserve Luna and all trees within a 200 foot buffer zone
Buffer zone
A buffer zone is generally a zonal area that lies between two or more other areas , but depending on the type of buffer zone, the reason for it may be to segregate regions or to conjoin them....
. In exchange, Hill agreed to vacate the tree. In addition, the $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 Humboldt State University
Humboldt State University
Humboldt State University is the northernmost campus of the California State University system, located in Arcata within Humboldt County, California, USA. The main campus, nestled at the edge of a coast redwood forest, is situated on Preston hill overlooking Arcata and with commanding views of...
as part of the agreement for research into sustainable forestry.
The tree was later cut with a chainsaw by vandals. The gash to the 200 feet (61 m)-tall redwood was discovered November 2000 by one of Hill's supporters. Observers at the scene said the cut measured 32 inches (812.8 mm) deep and 19 feet (5.8 m) around the base, somewhat less than half the circumference of the tree. The gash was treated with an herbal remedy and the tree was stabilized with steel cables. As of spring 2007, the tree is doing well with new growth each year. Caretakers routinely climb the tree to check on its condition and to maintain the steel guywire
Guy-wire
A guy-wire or guy-rope, also known as simply a guy, is a tensioned cable designed to add stability to structures . One end of the cable is attached to the structure, and the other is anchored to the ground at a distance from the structure's base...
s.
Post-tree sit
Since her tree sit, Hill has become a motivational speakerMotivational speaker
A motivational speaker or inspirational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. In a business context, they are employed to communicate company strategy with clarity and help employees to see the future in a positive light and inspire workers to pull...
(holding some 250 events a year), a best-selling author and the co-founder of the Circle of Life Foundation
Circle of Life Foundation
Circle of Life was founded by Julia Butterfly Hill. The US-based organization counts a number of celebrities and west-coast business leaders as supporters, advisors, and backers....
(which helped organize We The Planet, an eco-friendly music tour) and the Engage Network, a nonprofit that trains small groups of civic leaders to work toward social change.
On July 16, 2002, Hill was jailed in Quito
Quito
San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
outside the offices of Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum Corporation is a California-based oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and South America...
, for protesting a proposed oil pipeline that would penetrate a virgin Andean
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
cloud forest
Cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...
that teems with rare birds. "The cloud forest is stunning," said Hill. "It's this deep, lush green, spangled with explosions of red, yellow and purple from the flowers, birds and insects. But the environmental destruction we saw along the pipelines that had already been built was horrendous." Ecuadorian President Gustavo Noboa
Gustavo Noboa
Gustavo José Joaquín Noboa Bejarano is an Ecuadorian politician, former President of Ecuador and Vice President during Jamil Mahuad's government.- Education :...
commented, "The little gringos have been arrested, including the old cockatoo
Cockatoo
A cockatoo is any of the 21 species belonging to the bird family Cacatuidae. Along with the Psittacidae and the Strigopidae , they make up the parrot order Psittaciformes . Placement of the cockatoos as a separate family is fairly undisputed, although many aspects of the other living lineages of...
who climbs trees." Hill was later deported from Ecuador.
In 2003, Hill became a proponent of tax redirection
Tax resistance
Tax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax or to government policy.Tax resistance is a form of civil disobedience and direct action...
, resisting payment of about $150,000 in federal taxes, donating that money to after-school programs, arts and cultural programs, community gardens, programs for Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, alternatives to incarceration, and environmental protection programs. She said:
I actually take the money that the IRSInternal Revenue ServiceThe Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
says goes to them and I give it to the places where our taxes should be going. And in my letter to the IRS I said: "I'm not refusing to pay my taxes. I'm actually paying them but I'm paying them where they belong because you refuse to do so."
In 2006, Hill protested the sale of the South Central Farm
South Central Farm
The South Central Farm, also known as the South Central Community Garden, was an urban farm and community garden located at East 41st and South Alameda Streets. in an industrial area of South Los Angeles, California which was in operation between 1994 and 2006...
in an attempt to save the 14 acres (56,656 m²) farm from developers.
In an April 2009 interview, Hill pondered what would come next for her:
In popular culture
Hill has been the subject of several documentaries, interviews, and books, including her own memoirs, The Legacy of LunaThe Legacy of Luna
The Legacy of Luna is a book written by Julia Butterfly Hill about her experiences while protecting a tree named "Luna." It is based on a true story, written like a diary of two years spent in an ancient redwood....
and has influenced numerous musicians.
A benefit concert was played at the Mateel Community Center in Redway, CA during Julia's "tree sit", on December 10, 1998. Artists performing were Bob Weir
Bob Weir
Bob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
and Mark Karan
Mark Karan
Mark Karan is an American guitarist and singer, best known for his ongoing work with Bob Weir & RatDog. He also leads the band Jemimah Puddleduck.-Career:...
as an acoustic duet, the Steve Kimock
Steve Kimock
-External links:** at the Internet Archive's live music archive* at the Internet Archive's live music archive* at Internet Archive's live music archive*, San Francisco, April 3, 1999*, Unofficial Fan Forum...
Band and the Mickey Hart
Mickey Hart
Mickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995...
Band. Julia took part in the event, reading her poem "Luna" via telephone while the Mickey Hart Band was performing "The Dancing Sorcerer".
Hill was the subject of the 2000 documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Butterfly
Butterfly (2000 film)
Butterfly, which first aired on public television in 2000, is a documentary film directed by Doug Wolens about the environmental heroine, Julia Butterfly Hill who has gained the attention of the world for her 2-year vigil 180 feet atop an ancient redwood tree preventing it from being...
, and she is featured in the documentary film Tree-Sit: The Art of Resistance, both chronicling her time in the redwood tree.
The 12th season episode "Lisa the Tree Hugger
Lisa the Tree Hugger
"Lisa the Tree Hugger" is the fourth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 19, 2000...
" of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
was conceived when writer Matt Selman
Matt Selman
Matthew "Matt" Selman is an American writer and producer. Selman grew up in Massachusetts, attended the University of Pennsylvania and was editor-in-chief of student magazine 34th Street Magazine. After considering a career in journalism, he decided to try and became a television writer...
heard a news story about Hill.
In music
Several musicians have been inspired by Hill and her activism and written songs about her:- Trey AnastasioTrey AnastasioTrey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
and Tom MarshallTom Marshall (singer)Tom Marshall is a lyricist, keyboardist and singer/songwriter best known for his association with Trey Anastasio and the rock band Phish...
wrote a song called Kissed by Mist about Julia. - The Red Hot Chili PeppersRed Hot Chili PeppersRed Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
song "Can't Stop" contains the line "J. Butterfly is in the treetop." - In 2002 Los SuavesLos SuavesLos Suaves is a Spanish rock band from Ourense, Galicia. The band was founded in the 1980s by the Domínguez brothers: Charly, bassist and Yosi Domínguez, vocalist....
made a song in honor of Julia called "Julia Hill" on the "Un paso atrás" album in which the singer is "Luna". - Also in 2002, Ozark Folk/Bluegrass artists Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mulhollan who perform as Still On The Hill released their album, "Chaos and Calm" which includes a track named "Beautiful Butterfly" based on and in honor of their fellow Arkansan, Julia Butterfly Hill.
- Neil Young made a reference to her in the 2003 song "Sun Green" on the "Greendale" album in which the title character "Still wants to meet Julia Butterfly."
- In 2009, Idina MenzelIdina MenzelIdina Kim Menzel is an American actress, singer and songwriter. She is widely known for originating the roles of Maureen in Rent and Elphaba in Wicked.-Early life:...
wrote a song entitled "Butterfly" referring to Butterfly's concern for the environment. - Folk musician Kelly Green wrote a song entitled "Julia Butterfly" inspired in part by Julia "Butterfly" Hill.
- Casey DesmondCasey DesmondCasey Patricia Desmond is an American pop singer-songwriter and musician.- Biography :Desmond was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to parents Bill and Katherine Desmond, two Boston musicians and founders of Bentmen, a local Boston band, and the Sound Museum Music Complex...
wrote a song called "Julia Butterfly Hill" which appeared on her 2006 record "No Disguise". - Folk Musician Rachel Nelson wrote a song entitled "Julia Butterfly" in honor of Julia "Butterfly" Hill.
- Reggae and hip-hop mashup band Zion Tribe, featuring members of Tribalistic Dayze and the Zion Eye Reggae Band (which included Theresa Hill, cousin of Julia Butterfly Hill), wrote and recorded a song in 2005 called "Luna" in honor Julia Butterfly Hill's efforts.
Film adaptation
A film adaptation of The Legacy of Luna called Luna has been announced, directed by Laurie CollyerLaurie Collyer
Laurie Collyer is an American film director. She grew up in Mountainside, New Jersey and attended Oberlin College. She is best known for writing and directing Sherrybaby, for which actress Maggie Gyllenhaal received a Golden Globe nomination. She also directed the film Nuyorican Dream in 1999...
and starring Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...
. However, the film has been stuck in development hell
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
; Weisz has actively worked towards getting the project off the ground.