Julia Butterfly Hill

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Julia Butterfly Hill, 2006

Julia Lorraine "Butterfly" Hill (born February 18, 1974 in Mount Vernon , Missouri ) is an American environmental activist .

Hill climbed a California coast redwood on December 10, 1997 and lived there for 738 days to protect it from being felled by the Pacific Lumber company .

Life

Julia Hill is the daughter of a pastor. For the first few years she lived in a mobile home with her mother and two younger brothers . At the campsites, she was in close contact with nature and explored the adjacent rivers. During a hike, a butterfly landed on her finger and supposedly stayed with her the entire time of the trip. Therefore she gave herself the nickname "Butterfly".

During their school days, the family settled in Jonesboro . In August 1996, she was in a serious car accident in which her skull was injured by the steering wheel of the car. It took her about a year to fully recover from the effects. After that, she looked for new goals for her life. In California she became aware of the deforestation of the coastal redwoods.

Julia Hill lives vegan .

Occupation of the tree

As part of her trip, she came to Humboldt County and participated in a fundraiser to save the forests. Some of the participants occupied the trees to prevent Pacific Lumber workers from clearing the trees . The organizers were looking for someone to stay on the tree for a week.

"Nobody else would volunteer so they had to pick me"

"Nobody else wanted to do it voluntarily, so they chose me."

- Julia Hill : Julia Butterfly Hill, From Treetop to Grass Roots

Initially, Hill did not belong to any environmental protection organization. She chose to occupy trees as an act of civil disobedience . But Earth First! and actively support others. The ascent took place on December 10, 1997. Hill lived for the following 738 days on two approximately 4 m² platforms. They were installed at a height of 60 meters. A platform about 30 meters lower was added later to receive visitors and the press.

Hill used solar powered cell phones to communicate with the outside world. Food was prepared with a propane burner. A team of eight supported them with the occupation.

Pacific Lumber tried several times to drive her away by means of violence, for example by hurling the rotor blades of large Columbia transport helicopters from the tree she named Luna, but this did not succeed. She also felt the hardship of nature again and again in the form of wind and heavy rain.

In 1999, the activists reached an agreement with the company. All trees that lie within a 12,000 m² buffer zone should be preserved. Hill then left the tree. In addition, US $ 50,000 in donations were paid to Pacific Lumber.

In November 2000, Hill supporters discovered that the tree was broken near the ground with a chainsaw. According to observers, the incision was about 810 mm deep and 5.8 m long, which is half the circumference. Over 60% of the cross-sectional area was severed. They then anchored the tree with staples and steel cables. Part of the crown died, but the tree has now recovered. The attack gave the environmental activists further influx.

further activities

In 1999, Hill established the Circle of Life Foundation environmental protection organization . Hill wrote a book about her sometimes life-threatening experiences in the tree.

Hill in literature

  • "The Overstory", Richard Powers, New York 2018 / German edition under the title "The Roots of Life", Frankfurt a. M. 2018, ISBN 978-3-10-397372-3 (Powers traces parts of Hill's biography in the character Olivia Vandergriff)

Hill in pop culture

Many artists have been inspired by Julia Hill and her action, and have paid tribute to her in various ways.

  • Trey Anastasio and Tom Marshall wrote the song Kissed by Mist about Hill.
  • The Red Hot Chili Peppers track " Can't Stop " contains the line "J. Butterfly is in the treetop".
  • In 2002 Los Suaves published the title "Julia Hill" on the album "Un paso atrás" in honor of Julia, on which the singer is called "Luna".
  • Neil Young linked up with Julia in the 2003 song "Sun Green" on the "Greendale" album. The character from the play would like to meet Julia Hill: "Still wants to meet Julia Butterfly."
  • The animated series The Simpsons deals in the episode "Lisa as a tree lover" of the year 2000 also with Julia Hill and the clearing problem, when Lisa Simpson also lived in a coastal redwood tree to prevent a forest from being cut down.
  • The heroine of the Swedish children's book Julia räddar skogen ( Julia saves the forest , 2017) by Niklas Hill and Anna Palmqvist is named after Julia Hill. The book is about a child who occupies a tree to prevent the construction of a highway.

Fonts

  • The Legacy of Luna. The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods , San Francisco 2000, ISBN 978-0-06-251659-6 . (German: The Tree Woman's Message , Munich 2002, ISBN 3-442-15191-0 .)
  • Heart of a heroine. Saving the Last Redwoods , radio interview with Michael Toms, Carlsbad 2000, audio cassette, ISBN 1-56170-853-4 .
  • together with Jessica Hurley: One Makes the Difference. Inspiring Actions That Change Our World , San Francisco 2002, ISBN 0-06-251756-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Julia Butterfly Hill, activist and onetime tree-sitter, answers questions (interview with grist.org)
  2. ↑ Dawn Fitzgerald: Julia Butterfly Hill: Saving the Redwoods . Millbrook Press, Millbrook, Connecticut 2002, ISBN 0-7613-2654-5 .
  3. ↑ 10 Questions for activist Julia Butterfly Hill ( Memento of the original from June 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.emagazine.com

Web links

Commons : Julia Butterfly Hill  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Hill, Julia Butterfly
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hill, Julia Lorraine; Hill, Julia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American environmental activist
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH Jonesboro , Arkansas