A Woman Who Lived In A Tree For Two Years Came Up With One Strange Survival Method

Back in the late 1990s Hill decided to protest against deforestation by setting up camp in Luna, a 1,000-year-old redwood tree. And for two years, she faced off against opponents who tried to intimidate her from both the land and air. But frustrated loggers and security guards were not the only difficulties that she had to negotiate.

As she went about her daily life in the treetops, Hill was always just a slip away from disaster. If she put a foot wrong at any time, she risked a fatal plummet to the ground far below. So how did this determined environmental activist survive for so long in such a harsh environment?

Interestingly, Hill didn’t just survive her unusual ordeal — she actively thrived in her woodland home. Using solar-powered technology, she conducted interviews, spoke on cable TV, and helped raise awareness for the cause. And thanks to her efforts, Luna still stands some 25 years after a woman named Butterfly first shimmied her way up its ancient trunk. 

Born in 1974 in Missouri, Hill acquired her unusual nickname at seven years old, when a butterfly landed on her during a family hike. At the time, she was living in a camper with her parents and brothers, accompanying her minister father from place to place. Eventually, though, the family settled in the Arkansas city of Jonesboro.

There, Julia graduated from high school and took a job working as a waitress. Over time, she worked her way up to restaurant manager, and it seemed that she was in line for a successful career. But all that changed in the summer of 1996 when the 22-year-old was involved in a road accident that nearly claimed her life.

When a drink-driver hit the vehicle in which Hill was traveling, she sustained a serious injury to her skull. And according to reports, it took her several months to relearn how to walk and talk. When she did, she found herself reevaluating her purpose on Earth. Speaking to The Washington Post newspaper in 2004 she said, “The steering wheel in my head, both figuratively and literally, steered me in a new direction in my life.”

Ultimately, this revelation led Hill to the redwood forests of California, where the Pacific Lumber Company, or PL, was locked in a standoff against environmental activists. At the time, loggers in Humboldt County were practicing clear-cutting — an activity which involves felling almost all of the trees across a designated area. 

According to its proponents, clear-cutting is a safe and economic way to harvest timber. But its many detractors say that the method is devastating for local ecosystems, causing habitat loss and contributing to climate change. And while it might be the most profitable choice for the logging companies, the environmental costs are alarmingly high.

When Hill arrived in California, reports claimed that whistle-blowers within PL were being silenced, preventing the truth about clear-cutting from getting out. At the same time, loggers were threatening to chop down redwoods that had stood for centuries — including one believed to be 1,000 years old. In response, activists were amassing to protest against the firm.

At an event held to raise funds for the protest, Hill encountered a community of activists who were taking a direct approach. By physically placing themselves on platforms within the trees, they hoped to prevent them from being cut down. For the time being, at least, it seemed to be working, but it was a dangerous and draining way to protest.

To counteract the strain of tree-sitting, then, the activists were operating a rotating roster of protesters willing to hoist themselves up into the canopy above. And when Hill arrived, the group were looking for someone to take on a week-long shift. Eager to please, the would-be activist volunteered — although her inexperience caused some hesitation among the group.

In the end, though, Hill was the only person willing to undertake the lengthy stint. She said, “Nobody else would volunteer, so they had to pick me.” So on December 10, 1997, she climbed up into the canopy of a millennium-old tree dubbed Luna and began to make her camp. But little did she know that her week-long stay would turn into an epic ordeal.

“An hour-and-a-half after reaching the base of the tree, we got the last of the provisions up,” Hill recalled in her 2000 book The Legacy of Luna. “By then it was midnight. Finally, I was able to put on the harness and ascend Luna. It seemed an exhausting eternity before I reached the top. When I finally got there, I untangled myself from the harness and looked around for a place to collapse.”

All in all, Hill would remain in the tree for an astonishing 738 days. Using two platforms measuring just six feet by four feet, she forged a home for herself 180 feet above the ground. And before long, her efforts attracted the support of the advocacy group Earth First!, with news of her protest spreading around the world.

In her makeshift encampment, Hill tried her best to get on with everyday life. From the ground, supporters sent up supplies and food, which she cooked on a portable stove. Meanwhile, she filled her time with interviews and media appearances, speaking out against PL and their actions in Humboldt County. 

Despite these few home comforts, though, life in Luna was far from a walk in the park. Perched in the canopy throughout the long winter months, Hill had little more than a sleeping bag and a tarpaulin to protect her from the elements. And at times, terrifying storms battered her perilous platform in the trees. 

But the weather was often the least of Hill’s worries. Frustrated that its logging operations had ground to a halt, PL employed some menacing tactics to bring the protest to an end. Armed with helicopters, floodlights, and loudspeakers, it began a campaign of terror against the activist, making life in the tree almost impossible to bear.

On top of all this, Hill had to contend with the perils of her unusual environment, knowing that any slip or fall would result in her death. In the face of such challenges, she would certainly have been forgiven for giving up on her environmental mission. But instead, she adapted to life in the trees, honing a specific set of survival skills.

One of the most unusual, it turns out, involved Hill’s feet. Specifically, she chose not to wash them for days on end, allowing the sticky sap to accumulate on her soles. This substance, she found, lessened the chances of her slipping, allowing her to climb efficiently along Luna’s high branches.

On a more personal note, Hill also learned to forgo the comforts of a traditional bathroom and make do with a bucket instead. And when it came to the determined loggers intent on forcing her out of the tree, she was required to develop a thick skin. Despite the challenges, though, she endured her ordeal, bringing worldwide attention to the plight of California’s mighty redwoods.

And eventually, Hill’s perseverance paid off. Having failed to persuade the determined protester to vacate her forest encampment, PL representatives declared that Luna would be preserved. Not only that, the firm also agreed to halt clear-cutting activity across a protected buffer zone, extending for 200 feet around the ancient tree. 

On December 18, 1999, Hill finally climbed down from Luna and returned to life on solid ground. But while she had been little more than a wannabe activist before, she now found herself in the role of global celebrity. And less than 48 hours after clambering down from the tree she traveled to New York City to appear in front of the nation’s press.

According to The Washington Post, Hill did not believe that her time in the limelight would last very long. But even today, she remains one of the most famous environmental activists of all time. Forever altered by her experience, she decided to embark on a career in motivational speaking, educating others about the role of direct action in changing the world. 

But what of the tree that made Hill famous? In December 1999 Luna came under the guardianship of Sanctuary Forest, a charitable trust that works to preserve ancient forests across northern California. Launched two decades earlier, the project was born out of a campaign to save a single redwood — this time a 2,000-year-old behemoth nicknamed Big Red.

Like Luna, Big Red was spared, and today Sanctuary Forest protects over 10,000 acres of land. Having acquired stewardship of Hill’s beloved tree, the organization began conducting regular visits to monitor its condition. And in November 2000 they noticed something horrifying — vandals had attacked the redwood, leaving a large gash in its trunk.

According to reports, the 3-foot-deep wound was deep enough to threaten Luna’s stability, particularly in the often-ferocious weather conditions of Humboldt County. But the world wasn’t ready to give up on the famous tree yet. And in the hours after the damage was discovered, a crack team of scientists and arborists assembled on a rescue mission.

With a violent storm on the horizon, the experts knew that they had to work quickly. And in just 24 hours, an entire system of steel supports was developed and installed. This time, representatives from PL worked alongside the California Department of Forestry and Sanctuary Forest to save the ailing tree.

The following year, Steve Salzman, a civil engineer from nearby Eureka, stepped in. At the head of a dedicated medical team, he developed a system of steel cables that stabilized the tree by anchoring it to the ground. And even today, Luna remains upright and thriving, despite the best efforts of the unknown vandals.

Two decades after the tree was first threatened, it remains under the protection of Sanctuary Forest. Unfortunately, it is not possible for members of the public to visit Luna, although conservation workers continue to monitor the redwood on a regular basis. With new growth still appearing every year, it seems to be a survivor — just like Hill.

Since the protest that saw her gain notoriety around the world, Hill has dedicated her life to activism and environmental causes. Less than three years after leaving Luna, she joined an oil pipeline protest in the Ecuadorian capital Quito, ultimately winding up in jail. This time, it was the firm Occidental Petroleum (OP) that was the target of her wrath.

In the early 2000s, OP was planning to build a pipeline straight through an untouched region of the Andes Mountains, destroying much of its virgin ecosystem in the process. Speaking to San Francisco newspaper The Chronicle in 2002, Hill said, “The cloud forest is stunning. It’s this deep, lush green, spangled with explosions of red, yellow, and purple from the flowers, birds, and insects.”

Thanks to OP, though, that paradise was quickly disappearing. Hill continued, “The environmental destruction we saw along the pipelines that had already been built was horrendous.” At the time, many of these concerns were overlooked by those in power. But years later, the true impact of the oil industry on Ecuador is beginning to become apparent.

With spills and leaks causing untold damage to indigenous communities and national parks across Ecuador, it seems that Hill was right to oppose the pipeline. But her efforts saw her ejected from the country, branded an “old cockatoo” by then-president Gustavo Noboa. These setbacks, though, did little to dissuade her from her path.

The following year, Hill decided to take a stand against the Inland Revenue Service (IRS), engaging in a practice known as tax redirection. Claiming that her money was not being distributed fairly, she refused to pay anything to the IRS. Instead, she donated the same amount to various social and environmental organizations.

“I actually take the money that the IRS says goes to them and I give it to the places where our taxes should be going,” Hill told environmental news website The Edge in 2005. “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.’ They are not directing our money where it should be going, they are being horrific stewards of that money.”

By 2004 Hill was also part of Activism is Patriotism, an organization seeking to dispel the notion that direct action was akin to terrorism. And all the while, she continued to campaign to protect her beloved redwoods back in California. But despite a protection order signed by Joe Biden in April 2022 the trees are still at risk from logging companies. 

Meanwhile, Hill herself has become something of a folk hero, inspiring everything from songs and documentaries to characters in contemporary fiction. Interestingly, her relationship with Luna even inspired The Simpsons writer Matt Selman to pen a similar story, in which Lisa stages her own tree-sit to protest against environmental destruction. 

Hill herself, though, hopes that the events in Humboldt County will not always define her. Speaking to The Washington Post, she said, “I don’t want [the woman who lived in a tree] on my epitaph. What I want is, ‘This is a person who cared enough about the world to try and make it a better place.’”

Later, she expressed similar sentiments during a 2009 interview with the Chronicle. She said, “It’s hard to figure out what’s next because there’s this entire reality that’s been created around this role that I play. And I’m not discounting that role — I’ve been able to help communities that I love very much… But I just know that there… [are] aspects of it that need to shed.”