Julia Butterfly Hill

Julia "Butterfly" Hill is best known for living in a 180-foot-tall, 1,000-year-old California Redwood tree named "Luna" for 738 days between December 1997 and December 1999. Hill lived in the tree to prevent the Pacific Lumber Company from cutting it down. She lived in a small 6-by-8-foot treetop shelter, with a bucket tied to a rope to receive supplies from the ground. The year before she began her tree-sitting experience, Hill had been in a severe car accident and spent many months in the hospital. After her recovery, she sold her business (a successful restaurant) and drove cross-county to embark on a spiritual quest. She eventually found herself in Humboldt County, California, where environmentalists were protesting the destruction of the redwood forest. Hill joined their cause and volunteered to sit in the tree for 30 days, but then decided to remain in the tree for two years. In 1999, she came down from the tree after the Pacific Lumber Company agreed to preserve Luna and all trees within a 3-acre buffer zone. Unfortunately, shortly after Hill left the tree, Luna was vandalized with a chainsaw. In 1999, Hill and other activists founded the organization Circle of Life. She now lives in Oakland, California.