On December 10, 1997, a young woman climbed 180 feet to a 6-by-8-foot platform in an ancient redwood tree. Julia Hill was participating in a sit-in, a strategy adopted by environmentalists to bring attention to the destruction of the old growth forests that clean our air, nurture our soil, support the diversity of life, and inspire awe in humankind. At the time of Julia Hill’s climb, only 3 percent of our country’s ancient redwood ecosystem survived. Luna, a 1,000-year-old Western Redwood anchored to a steep slope above the town of Stafford in Humboldt County, California, was one of those survivors.

Maxxam Inc.’s Pacific Lumber Company managed the land surrounding Luna. The company’s reckless clearcutting of old growth trees in the area had already devastated much of the area, leaving its slopes barren, polluted, and vulnerable to flooding and mudslides. On New Year’s Eve of 1996 the hillside above Stafford, saturated by heavy rains and denuded of the trees that once protected it, collapsed, causing a torrent of trunks, branches, rocks, and mud to gather in a landslide that destroyed eight homes and damaged others. Many of Stafford’s residents found themselves homeless. Miraculously no one was killed.

Julia Hill’s forest name was Butterfly, and soon the world would come to know her as Julia Butterfly Hill. Born in Missouri, Julia Butterfly spent the first decade of her life traveling the nation’s heartland in a camper with her parents and two brothers. Her father, a traveling minister, and mother lived by their ideals and taught their children to do the same. They found joy in helping others, putting Jesus first, others second, and their own needs last. They revered nature and showed respect for a power larger than humankind. They taught their children to be curious and questioning. The Hills instilled in their children the ideal that we are only as good as our word and that our words must be met by our actions.

When Julia was ten, the family settled in Arkansas, and she began to follow a more traditional path. She developed important friendships, studied, had fun, and in general turned into the average teenager. After high school she studied business management at college. She opened a restaurant and night club. Driving home from work one evening, her car was struck by a drunk driver. This devastating accident that almost killed her instead gave her new life. Following a year in rehabilitation where she had to learn to speak and walk again, Julia Butterfly realized “my whole life had been out of balance . . . I had been obsessed by my career, success, and material things. The crash woke me up to the importance of the moment, and doing whatever I could to make a positive impact on the future.”

She headed West, uncertain of the future but certain she had a calling. “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.” Julia Butterfly now saw her job as protecting more than a community of people. She committed herself to protecting life in all forms.

Living on a platform came with a variety of challenges. For the first months, while the weather was decent, she shared the platform with others. As the only woman in the canopy, she had to develop methods to shower and use the toilet. She climbed Luna’s limbs for exercise and time alone. The elevation offered spectacular views of the landscape’s beauty and of the logging company’s destruction. When it came time to sleep, the activists arranged their bodies like puzzle pieces with arms and feet dangling high above the forest floor.

At the bottom of the tree, loggers used every method possible to force Julia Butterfly and her companions to the ground. They threatened them with arrest for trespassing and for staging unlawful demonstrations. Crews set up blockades to prevent the resupplying of the activists. They attempted to cut lines used to hoist food and supplies to the tree sitters. The company continued their logging activities, carelessly felling branches and trees that might fall on anyone nearby. Pacific Lumber employees used bull horns and whistles to create a din to drive them mad. At one point the company sent a helicopter to hover just above Luna. Pacific Lumber broke laws, using life-threatening and unconscionable actions to restart the clear-cutting process in order to make more money.

Life in Luna became a battle not just for the tree’s life, but for the activists’ sanity and safety. They could endure only so much, and even the most stalwart recognized the danger of living in the tree over the winter. They left the platform and urged Julia Butterfly to do the same. Fearing their vacancy would give Pacific Lumber an opportunity to kill Luna, Julia Butterfly stayed.

With winter came rain and snow that drenched her to the bone and challenged her resolve. Then came storms with winds that broke branches off the trees and tossed the platform up and down and side to side. Hail pounded her and snow crept into the folds of her clothing. Julia Butterly clenched her teeth, she clenched her eyes, and she clenched her muscles. She thought “if I just clenched hard I would hold on to my life.” A gust of 90 mph threw her across the platform into a tarp, and a voice said to her, “Think of the trees in the storm.” The trees that defy the storm, trying too hard to stand up strong and straight, are the ones that break. Those that bend and flow with the elements survive.

Julia Butterfly prayed, “Okay, if this is what I’m meant to do, then please creator use me, allow me to be a vessel.” She gave herself to her surroundings. Julia Butterfly learned from Luna. She learned from the storm. She learned to give up attachments. Rather than allow feelings of despair to overwhelm her, Julia Butterfly recreated herself and began not just to survive but to thrive.

Moments of love punctuated her journey. A logger named Kalani provided unexpected compassion and support. Her fellow activists risked arrest or worse to resupply her with food, water, and other needs. She conducted interviews, wrote poetry, sent letters, studied, and learned. Julia Butterfly prayed for guidance, safety, and love and became a reluctant celebrity for the environmental movement. At the core of it all was Luna, her constant companion, whose resilience and strength of spirit helped her keep whole.

It took 738 days for Pacific Lumber to recognize they were dealing with a force more powerful than money, but finally the conviction, passion, and compassion of Julia Butterfly forced the company to commit to saving Luna and Luna’s family. Approximately three acres of ancient growth redwoods would be left where they had thrived for at least 1,000 years, an oasis that offers the promise of continuation of the species.

On December 18, 1999, Julia Butterfly Hill’s feet touched earth for the first time in more than two years. Back on ground, she felt a responsibility to continue giving to what she saw as “a hurting world . . . constantly wanting and needing my help with everything they cared about.” It is difficult to understand what her sacrifice entailed. Selflessness. A belief in something larger than oneself. Passion. Toughness. That she and Luna both survived might be seen as a miracle. Their story is proof that love conquers hate, violence can be overwhelmed with peace, and that one determined person can make a difference in this world.