In the rampant baronItalo Calvino tells the fictional story of Cosimo, a 12-year-old aristocrat who climbs a tree as a gesture of rebellion against parental authority and promises to stay there until his death. In real life, rebellion can serve to inspire others and change the state of affairs. This is the case of the woman who lived in a sequoia to avoid being cut down.
The story of Julia “Butterfly” Hilla 23-year-old girl, was inevitably linked to that of «Luna», a redwood tree over 1,000 years olda resident of Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park in California, USA, when in late 1997 a logging company threatened to fell the park’s majestic trees.
“Butterfly”, as Julia is nicknamed for her love of butterflies, was part of the environmental organization Earth First. The environmentalists decided to put their bodies between the trees and the machines of the logging company to avoid ecocide. In an extreme act, Julia and other of her companions chose some trees to climb and set up small camps on the heights., as a measure to attract media attention. But what would be a 2-week camping trip, for «Butterfly» became an immobile expedition of more than 2 years.
Sometimes doing nothing is the most violent thing to do – Slavoj Zizek
The woman who adopted an impressive sequoia
Julia Lorraine Hill was born on February 18, 1974 in Arkansas, and studied in her own home until she was 12 years old. A traffic accident at the age of 22 meant a long rehabilitation, in which He strengthened his mind as well as his body. During that hard time, she got used to watching and walking near the redwoods, which inspired her to regain control of her own body after the aftermath of the accident. In her autobiography, Julia tells:
I went into the forest and for the first time I experienced what it really means to be alive. I understood that I was part of that. Shortly after I learned that the Pacific Lumber Maxxam Corporation was clearing these forests and my confusion was complete. I contacted the Earth First association, which held sit-ins in the trees to prevent their felling. That’s how I met «Luna».
The idea of Earth First was for another member of the association to take over from Julia after a couple of weeks. But the relay never came. A team supplied him with food to survive in the heights through a pulley system. Julia says that she charged her cell phone using solar panels in her camp 50 meters above sea level, on a 3-square-meter canvas organized to cover hygienic, nutritional, and rest needs.
With roots in the sky
In an interviewJulia stated that the company Pacific Lumber He did everything possible to sabotage his expedition: they burned trees around him, they made helicopters pass by that shot jets of water at him, not to mention the harsh living conditions in the heights, which caused him blisters and frequent injuries.
But the acid test came in the winter of 1998, when a powerful storm hit the park for 2 weeks. It was then that Julia, the woman from the sequoia, claims to have heard “the voice of Luna”, reminding her that “rigid branches break, only flexible branches survive”. Following this mysterious intuition, Julia clung to the young and flexible branches, and thus she managed to save her life.
His feat was not in vain: On December 18, 1999, Julia descended from «Luna» after the logging company agreed to respect the redwoods and include environmental care policies in all subsequent expeditions. The logging company received $50,000 from the activists in lost profits, which would later be donated to preserve the area.
Getting off Luna, Julia told reporters, «I understand that to some people I’m just a dirty tree-hugging hippie. But I can’t imagine anyone wanting to put a chainsaw on something like that.»
The 738 days that Julia spent in the heights they inspired many pro-earth movements, and he has been involved in environmental projects through his nonprofit Circle of Life ever since. The story of Julia and «Luna» inspires us to hold on to love the planet, as well as to take sides for our ideals regardless of the conditions in which we find ourselves. What is your tree?
Keep reading: The enormous portrait of the largest sequoia in the world will take your breath away
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