The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods Paperback – April 3, 2001

Highly recommend this book, especially today when we need positive role models and inspiration. Not that Julia Butterfly Hill is preachy -- not at all. But her story speaks for itself. It's also very interesting and well written! Easy, inspiring, enjoyable read.

I was so inspired to read a book by the woman who spent 2 years and 8 days atop an ancient redwood tree - at a height equivalent to an 18 story building! WHO could accomplish such an incredible feat, in favor of our living treasures, the Redwood National Forrest? Julia Butterfly Hill, is who. Just think of it my friends. She was very young at the time, 23 years old and had just barely recovered from a bad accident and then she drives across country, arrives at the sacred and foggy cathedral of the Redwoods Forrest, in Humbolt County, California. Within days she ascends to live amongst the branches of her newfound friend, Luna - who is the 1,000 year old redwood tree that she prays she can save.Pacific Lumber wants to chop the tree to smithereens. For what reason? To make a redwood deck?How stupid and pointless!So UP Ms Hill goes to stop the lumberjacks, who act like jackasses to destroy the forrest.It is an unsustainable practice, but you can't argue with their mentality.They see the deforestation as a way of putting food on their table, but it is methodolically destroying what took thousands of years to form. Our precious redwood forrest is under siege by these lumber companies.Ms Butterfly Hill climbs this tree in order to save it's life. Her story is told as completely as possible in this enthralling book. I hope that you read it and in true Ms Butterfly fashion, pass it along to another reader. Ms Butterfly would appreciate the recycling of the pages of her book, because she is truly vested to preserve our natural earth.I loved this book and I love Ms Butterfly Hill!!!She is a champion for living in the massive tree - on a wooden platform no bigger than the surface of a queen sized bed! What an amazing accomplishmet for a woman, especially a woman that young!!!The weather was especially uncooperative during the winter season. She was hardy to survive the relentless cold, winds and attacks on her by Pacific Lumber and their evil allies.Read her book and be amazed at what her heart & her mind (and her earth friendly friends) did for a beautiful redwood tree, and what heartless people did to force her off the tree.She is also a spiritualy woman who credits the loving and almighty God for helping her during times of hugely stressful challenges. Like when Pacific Lumber sent a helicopter to blow 300 mph winds in her face. That damned pilot should be jailed for trying to kill Ms Hill!!! That helicopter nearly blew her off the tree to her death, but God saved her from that horrible fate!!! God and only God could possibly have the power to keep Ms Hill perched on her platform and she won that battle.The meanies didn't win this time.Thank God for that!In the end, the tree named LUNA was spared and this amazing woman lives on to tell her tale to all who will listen. I hope people hear her story and their hearts grow big with wonder at her amazing feat!God bless you.

It's an important work everyone should read.

This is an amazing story. I think if you are of one extreme political view or the other in regards to the redwoods, or environmentalism, you will be softened somewhat after reading Julia's odyssey. It is largely written from a place of neutrality (the heart), and does not "preach", nor is it angry in tone. I am a Northern Californian myself, and after experiencing personally the enormous anger/hate that goes on between BOTH sides of the spectrum, i.e. the logging industry, and the environmentalists, her book was very refreshing. It was as if, by climbing the tree, and remaining in it for so long, Julia stood on the fulcrum of both extremes.I remember one part of the book where, after a confrontation with one of the loggers, she lowered down a photograph of herself dressed in a formal gown. Seeing her as someone he could identify with, and not just as a tree-hugging-hippy-out-to-ruin-his-life-by-taking his livelihood away, shifted him.It may be that I believe Julia is a saint, simply because I'm a tree fanatic. But I feel she has really helped shift a lot of the stagnatic energy on both sides of the tree agenda. She has a wonderful heart, and I believe most of you will be able to identify with her, just as that logger did.The only reason I did not give this book 4 stars, is that there are parts of the writing which seem repeated or slow. But definately, read this book... it is a very unique story!Julia is an inspiration to ANYONE who feels like he or she cannot make a difference being just one person.

I heard about Julia years ago when I was young and flirting with life in the typical way a young girl does. I thought - oh wow, how cool is that - and went on with my life. Now that I'm older, hopefully wiser, I found I wanted to know more about her and those amazing 2 years she spent living in a tree. Now that I've read the book I realize that living in a tree for 2 year was hardly the point of her story. Her commitment to values, beliefs, and her love for all life, even those who harmed and destroyed life, is the real story. And the miracle of her communication and relationship with Luna, the tree, is an enormous legacy to every living thing on our planet. I hope many more will read this story.