Julia Butterfly Hill
Harper San Francisco
2000

By now, the story of Julia Butterfly Hill's two-year vigil to save an ancient redwood tree named Luna is well-known, at least in its basic outline. What current events don't tell us often is what actions like hers mean to those who undertake them and how they come to pass in the first place. If Legacy of Luna only illuminated those aspects of social action, it would be a worthwhile read. Hill, however, also talks about the spiritual aspects of her stay in Luna, from a somewhat naïve and impulsive beginning through the arduous journey that it ultimately became.

Hill is a clear and engaging writer—she takes you directly into her experience, while at the same time keeping it in the context of the larger struggle to save the forest. She begins her tale with a prologue about the 1996 Stafford mudslide, then offers a brief but illuminating summary of how she first came to the forest and felt a call:

Learning about the clear-cut made me feel like a part of myself was being ripped apart and violated, just as the forests were. These majestic ancient places, which are the holiest of any temples, housing more spirituality than any church, were being turned into clear-cuts and mud slides. I had to do something. I didn't know what that something was, but I knew I couldn�t turn my back and walk away.

The opportunity to do something soon presented itself. Hill returned to Arcata, and within a week or so found herself in Luna for the first time, for a five-day stay. After a second five-day stay, she volunteered to stay in Luna longer, to minimize the time spent rotating people to and from the tree. That commitment to stay for a month or so became two years.

What is striking about he story she tells from that point is that it traces her journey from someone with passion and good intentions to an educated and capable activist. She readily admits in the book that she didn't have a lot of knowledge about the forest or logging when she first went up in Luna. But as she came to realize the potential in her presence there, she got the information she needed and presented it whenever the opportunity arose. It's an interesting paradox of this age that she was speaking for an ancient natural order of things, but only able to do so via cell phone.

It is also important to note, as she often does in the book, the importance of her spirituality in sustaining such a lengthy action. She is often in touch with spirit—asking for help, trying to overcome anger, frustration and fear, thankful—and it is clear that her relationship to spirit is at the core of what she accomplished in Luna. Maintaining such a connection is crucial for overcoming the frustrations and feelings of despair that are part of the territory of social action, and perhaps the greatest gift of Legacy of Luna is that it illuminates that relationship and what it can accomplish. It is an inspirational story for anyone who wants to work toward making a better world.

[Originally published in Reclaiming Quarterly #79, Summer 2000]