American environmental activist Julia Butterfly Hill spent 738 days inside Luna, a sizable 1500-year-old redwood tree, protesting the logging practices employed by Pacific Lumber.
Between December 10, 1997, and December 1999, she called the tree home. Her groundbreaking work came to an end when Pacific Lumber Company decided to preserve the tree and a 200-foot buffer zone around it.
She set world records for tree sitting in her protest, which she hoped would stop the destruction, call attention to PL’s disregard for the environment, and inform people about the importance of trees in stabilizing hillsides.
When Julia was 23 years old, she made the decision to take part in a “tree sit” protest while at an eco-friendly event, so she scaled a huge redwood tree.
She found it inconceivable that a redwood that had been standing for up to 2000 years would be felled with a chainsaw. She didn’t have activist training.
Additionally, she claimed that she never would have believed she could pull it off.
After a terrible car accident in her early 20s, Julia went through a period of recovery before realizing her life had become out of balance.
My job, accomplishments, and material possessions had all become a part of my passion. Due to the catastrophe, I became aware of the importance of the situation and the need to do everything in my power to alter the course of history.
After relocating to the West, Julia joined a group of “tree sitters” who were protesting the Pacific Lumber Company’s clear-cut redwood logging on the northern Californian coast.
She went to an old-growth forest and was astounded by the life and spirituality of the redwoods after learning that only 3% of the once-abundant redwood ecosystem remained.
She wished to change the situation.
Since Julia was an introvert and liked being outside, she believed she could live in a tree for a week or two with no problem.
“Earth First! required a person to remain in a redwood tree to stop loggers from cutting it down, and since no one else offered, they had to choose me. To emphasize the value of preserving old trees, they carried out tree sits. I put on the harness on December 10, 1997, and I ascent to the 180-foot summit of Luna. Two years instead of the three or four weeks I had planned on spending there, it took me longer to stay in the tree. I waited until the corporation told me Luna and the community’s grove would be safeguarded before coming back to Earth. ”.
In the vast canopy of the tree, Julia has spent more than two years on two 6 x 6 foot platforms. To get the attention of the international media, she used a solar-powered phone.
To distribute supplies and food, volunteers hiked 2.5 kilometers up the mountain. Julia had to endure one of the worst El Nino storms in addition to being bothered by helicopters and threatened by loggers cutting trees nearby. Even threats of death were made against her. Most of the time, she was cold and wet, but occasionally, discomfort and fear caused her to curl up in the fetal position and start crying. ”.
“I knew it would inevitably come down to one side if I kept arguing politics and science and stayed in the mind rather than the heart and the spirit. Other than that, however, everyone can agree that ideas like respect, dignity, and compassion only go so far. ”.
However, given that they perceived me as an eco-hippie who valued trees and ate granola, how could I persuade them to have a different opinion of me? ”.
She insisted that she had gained courage from the tree’s wisdom. There is no denying the strong bond that formed between Julia and Luna. She cherished the tree.
Her stay in the redwoods was only supposed to last a week. She was dragged into the branches and onto a wooden plank with assistance from the rest of the Earth First! team. Her travel bag contained food and water.
After the week, everyone anticipated Julia would go back to the forest floor. But the reality was very different. After a week, Julia made the decision to scale the entire tree and build a makeshift shelter.
She set up camp atop the redwood with no one knowing what she was planning, not even her Earth First! friends.
Julia stayed atop the tree she had given the name “Luna” for weeks that turned into months. She said that she discovered many things about herself while there, with the most significant lesson being how to live independently.
Snowstorms, freezing temperatures, and drenching rain tore at Julia’s plywood vantage point. She occasionally questioned her ability to survive, but in the end, she was able to withstand anything that nature could dish out.
Throughout her protest, Julia maintained a Zen-like attitude, which gave her a new outlook on both life and people. She came to the conclusion that it is always preferable to bend with the wind as opposed to standing straight and running the risk of breaking.
After living on Luna for 738 days, Julia left and came back to Earth with a lovely new outlook. She was unquestionably a different person.
An important victory for the environmental movement was the protest Julia organized. After leaving Redwood, she delivered a speech emphasizing the value of social and environmental advocacy. Her two years on the tree are described in her book, The Legacy of Luna.
