Julia Butterfly Going Strong in Vigil to Protect Redwoods
One and A Half Years in a Tree

Date: Mon, 07 Jun 1999

Contact: Michael Van Broekhoven 707/825-7109; Environmentally Sound
Promotions 707/923-4949 website- http://www.lunatree.org/

On June 10, 1999 Julia Butterfly Hill, 25, will reach her year and a half
mark of sitting high atop the 1000+ year old redwood tree now known as
Luna. She climbed 180' up into a tarp covered 6' x 8' platform on December
10, 1997, in an effort to protect Luna and the hillside on which it stands,
as well as to protest the federally brokered Headwater's Forest Agreement
and the destructive and illegal logging practices of the MAXXAM/Pacific
Lumber Company. Butterfly has called for permanent protection of all
remaining old-growth forests and critical habitat for endangered species.
"Things of real value in life are worth going to any length in love and
respect to safeguard," said Butterfly. Julia has maintained her vigil with
the assistance of a dedicated support group that brings her food, water,
supplies and mail.

During her quest to protect the forest, Julia Butterfly has accomplished
much. The story of her historic action has been extensively covered in all
forms of the national news media, the alternative press and the
international press from every corner of the world. Other achievements
include:

* Panelist on U.N. Commission for Human Settlements, World Gathering,
Nairobi, Africa, May 1999
* Musician Bonnie Raitt dedicated her "Lifetime Achievement Award" to Julia
Butterfly Hill at the 1999 BAMMIE Awards and then ascended Luna with Joan
Baez to present it to her.
* Visited by thousands, including actor Woody Harrelson, musicians Ben
Harper and Mickey Hart, Buddhist monks, and Native Americans. First
tree-sitter ever to have reporters climb tree.
* Regular commentator on Outdoor Life Network's environmental news show:
The Thin Green Line
* Addressed 8 million school children on Channel 1
* Received The Bioneers Award for Outstanding Achievement in Environmental
Activism, Nov. 1998
* Nominated "Most Admired Woman," Good Housekeeping Magazine reader poll,
September, 1998
* Keynote Speaker (via cell-phone), Environmental Law Conference, Ancient
Forest Conference (1999)
* Member, Board of Directors, Earth Day 2000 Campaign
* Received "Defender of the Woods Award" painting from Native American
political prisoner, Leonard Peltier, April 1998
* United Steelworkers make Julia an honorary Steelworker and repeatedly
visit Luna; Local #713 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners
present Julia a "care package" (1999)
* Received Honorary Doctorate Degree of Humanities from New College of
California, Sept. 1998
* Julia Hangs 7' "target" banner to protest bombing of Yugoslavia (current)
* Survived El Nino rains and 90 mile/hr.winds (97-98) and La Nina 10 degree
cold and a 1' of snow.

"I believe the outward landscape is a manifestation of our inner
landscape," said Butterfly who's continuous vigil has been in a timber
harvest plan adjacent to the massive mudslide caused by MAXXAM/Pacific
Lumber's clearcutting practices. On New Year's Day 1997, this mudslide
destroyed 7 families' homes, damaging and threatening dozens of others, in
the town of Stafford below. "MAXXAM/Pacific Lumber's response to this
horrifying tragedy was to offer the families a couple of thousand dollars
and continue cutting right above their heads. This area is a magnifying
glass of all that is wrong not only with the Headwater's Forest Agreement,
but also the role of corporate mentality in our world today," said Julia.

"The Headwaters Agreement and associated Habitat Conservation Plan is based
on the premise that only a bare minimum needs to be protected for
endangered species recovery, and from the beginning it has failed to
require what is biologically necessary to accomplish even that," Hill
stated. "Thousands of acres of old growth will be sacrificed and tens of
thousands more of seriously devastated land will go without needed
restoration, eliminating the potential for new jobs, all while Charles
Hurwitz laughs his way to the bank with $500 million in hand," she said.
Hurwitz, president of PL parent company Maxxam, is still the subject of an
Office of Thrift Supervision trial regarding a $1.6 billion debt to the
American taxpayers as a result of a federal bailout of his failed United
Savings Association of Texas. Hill states that Luna, the tree she has
occupied since December 10, 1997, and the surrounding steep and unstable
hillside are representative of the many areas that the Agreement falls to
adequately protect, and will therefore maintain her vigil.

Julia Hill chose the name Butterfly while in her childhood years and like
her namesake she has undergone a great metamorphosis. She grew up in a
deeply religious family as the daughter of a traveling, evangelical
minister that later settled in Arkansas. In 1996 she suffered nearly fatal
injuries in an auto accident. During close to a year of medical treatment
and recovery, she had time to reassess her purpose in life. Two weeks
after being released by her doctors, she headed west on a journey of
self-discovery. She had no particular destination, but her first sight of
the ancient redwoods overwhelmed her with awe. "When I entered the
majestic cathedral of the redwood forest for the first time, my spirit knew
it had found what it was searching for. I dropped to my knees and began to
cry because I was so overwhelmed by the wisdom, energy and spirituality
housed in this holiest of temples."

http://www.lunatree.org/