Julia Hill: The woman who lived up a 180-foot, 1000-year-old tree for 2 years

Julia “Butterfly” Hill often felt like an outsider during her childhood, according to Business Insider. However, as she matured, she began channeling her determination into causes close to her heart, particularly environmental protection. In 1997, Julia gained national attention for her act of civil disobedience: she climbed a 1,000-year-old redwood tree and lived there for an astonishing 738 days. Despite facing numerous challenges, including threats and isolation, she remained steadfast in her mission, setting a record for the longest tree-sit.

On December 10, 1997, 23-year-old Julia climbed an ancient redwood tree in California’s Redwood Forest, committing to stay there for the next two years. Her protest was against the Pacific Lumber Company's plans to clear-cut the forest. For 738 days, Julia lived in the tree’s canopy, drawing attention to the cause.

“I have two platforms. One is 180 feet up. That serves as a storage space. The living space is at about 100 feet. It is maybe 4 by 6 feet. A ground team brings food and supplies once a week. I lower down a bag of waste and bring supplies up,” Julia wrote in The New York Times, describing her tree-sitting experience. She added, "I have a camping stove and water from rain and fog. I go to the bathroom like everyone else, just minus the technology. And I have perfected the fine art of sponge 'dashing': I gather water, heat it up, and scrub myself. Luckily, I've never gotten sick."

According to All That’s Interesting, Julia was born in 1974. Until about ten years of age, she lived in a camper van as her father, Dale, was a traveling minister. She spent a major segment of her childhood moving around the United States. At the age of seven, while the Hill family went on a hiking trip, a butterfly landed on Julia’s shoulder and remained there for the rest of the trip. This prompted her family members to add the nickname “Butterfly” to her name.

After her family settled in Arkansas, Julia attended college and worked various part-time jobs but still felt unclear about her life’s purpose. In 1996, a tragic car accident changed everything. The steering wheel struck her skull when a drunk driver rear-ended her car, severely impairing her hearing and walking abilities. This left Julia in a spiritual crisis, feeling hopeless about her future.

"It took 10 months of physical and cognitive therapy to recover from the wreck, and during that time I realized I wanted to find a more powerful purpose for being here on this planet," Hill told Grist magazine in 2006. "After I was released from my last doctor, I went on a road trip with friends which led me to California, which led me to the redwoods," she said. When she traveled to California, she felt an instant connection reverberating between herself and the redwood trees.

At a reggae festival and environmental fundraiser, Julia met activists from the environmental organization “Earth First!” They were protesting the clear-cutting of local redwoods by the Pacific Lumber Company. Inspired, Julia volunteered to join their cause, feeling she had found her true purpose. “When I entered the ancient redwoods for the first time, I dropped to my knees and began to cry. I connected with a higher purpose for my life. These beautiful forests were being clear-cut, and I wanted to do something. Then a guy was going around looking for someone to do a tree-sit as a protest. My hand shot up -- Pick me, pick me!'' I thought I was going to be up here for three weeks to a month,” Julia wrote in The New York Times.

She named the tree Luna, the Latin word for “moon,” and fully committed to the environmental cause. While living at the top of Luna, she used solar panels to charge her batteries, electronic organizers, and a cordless phone to answer calls from various organizations and schools. She spent the rest of her time writing 100 to 150 letters per week. Despite numerous attempts by the logging company to break her resolve, including sending helicopters to hover above her and cutting off her supplies, Julia remained steadfast. She also faced natural threats like severe windstorms. “One night I thought I was going to die. The wind was 90 m.p.h.,” she recalled, “I grabbed Luna and started praying.”

In December 1999, Julia signed a mutual agreement with the Pacific Lumber Company, according to which Luna and all other trees within a 200-foot buffer zone would be preserved. Julia also donated $50,000 to the company for the loss of revenue, which the company donated to the Humboldt State University for environment-related research. She also founded the “Circle of Life Foundation,” conducting speaking tours, music festivals, and training programs to promote environmental awareness and activism.

After descending from Luna, Julia shared her feelings with The Sun, saying, “The person I’d been when I’d gone up and the person I was when I came down were so profoundly different that I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to live in the world again.” She added, “When I set foot on the earth, there was a lot of emotion. There was extreme joy because we’d protected the tree and the grove around it, which a lot of people had said was impossible. But there was also sadness. I had become so much a part of that tree, and it had become so much a part of me, that I wasn’t sure I would fit in with other people.” Presently, Julia works as an author, life coach, and motivational speaker, inspiring people to live a conscious and fulfilling lifestyle.