I remember reading about Julia’s tree-sit in Bay Area free weeklies back when she was up there. I remember thinking she must be crazy to put her life on the line like that. It would be nearly 20 years before I visited the coast redwood forests of California and felt an indescribable peace and connection to them that led me to this book. I have great admiration for Julia and disgust for Pacific Lumber. I know it’s a very complicated situation and I can understand arguments on both sides. I’m lucky enough to not have been born into a situation where I was reliant on logging as a means of simple survival. That is a luxury that the people in these small towns up in Humboldt don’t have so I empathize with them. They are only trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. The business practices of Pacific Lumber and how they take full advantage of their workers and destroy the environment and ecological integrity of these old-growth forests is reprehensible. Unlike other reviewers, I found Julia’s writing flowed well and she wove in the details of what clear cutting has done to these unique lands and communities. She highlights the devastating effects on the people of Stanford who lost their homes to mudslides that were a direct result of Pacific Lumber clear cutting the hillsides above their community. This is a story of a huge corporation walking all over the little guy, lining the pockets of their executives and enriching their political allies, a story as old as time and repeated ad nauseam. The difference here is that the old-growth coast redwoods are literally the lungs of the earth, an essential element in the survival of the human race on this planet. That Julia managed to force Pacific Lumber to protect Luna is a great success, even if it’s mostly symbolic. The fact that a vandal nearly destroyed Luna just months after Julia came down out of the tree is a sad epilogue and goes to show that there is a large percentage of humanity for whom nothing is sacred. All we can do is follow Julia’s example and do what we can as individuals to preserve what remains of these ancient coast redwood forests and hope it’s enough. Nearly 25 years after this book was written it is even more relevant now. If you’ve never visited an old-growth coast redwood forest it’s something every single person should do in their lifetime. After you visit these trees you’ll understand Julia much better.

Life in a tree can be surprisingly busy.

The Legacy of Luna tells the story of an ancient redwood tree and a woman who interpreted the words “We don’t need you.” as a call to action.

Before reading The Legacy of Luna, I had heard of Julia Butterfly Hill and I knew that she had lived in a tree. I did not know that she is a woman of courage, faith, and ingenuity with an apparently strong streak of stubbornness.

Read the whole review at: https://greengroundswell.com/the-lega...

While Julia and Luna's story is a touching one, the writing is terrible. I wanted to read this book and be inspired but Hill comes across as flighty, a lousy story-teller and very uninspiring.

What an inspiration! I LOVED this book. I love the whole idea that this young person with nothing more than a desire to follow her guidance, do the right thing, and help where she could was able to make such a difference in the world! Her story is so moving because her success is a direct result of her willingness to remain rooted in loving intention and peaceful action. She is living proof that peaceful forms of activism ARE effective, and in fact, transformative. I also received a brief education of forest conservation issues, and I now have a desire to learn even more. I would highly recommend this book!

true devotion and dedication. makes me feel more connected to the place i live and view sohum differently. 4/5 stars

I’ve always been compelled to hug every old growth tree I encounter and its really heartening that this book found its way to me. She is kindred spirit, and her religious morals and courage are inspirational.
She spoke of our interconnection with all life and when she spoke of needing to climb barefoot and the connections she felt I just envision our deeply visceral feelings for nature and the last vestiges ape DNA.

*The tree survived the vandalism.

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Luna is the name given in October 1997 to a 1,000-year-old, 200-foot-tall[1] coast redwood tree located near the community of Stafford in Humboldt County, California which was occupied for 738 days by forest activist Julia Butterfly Hill and saved by an agreement between Hill and the Pacific Lumber Company. The tree was vandalized about a year after the agreement but was repaired and survived.

Più che il libro è stata interessante l'iniziativa dell'autrice di vivere su un albero e ammirevole il suo coraggio e la sua determinazione.

Excellent book and very well written! Julia feels a connection to the redwood tree forest and so volunteers to help an activist group by spending a couple of days 100+ feet high up in a tree named Luna. Only thing is, the logging company and the government do not listen to their complaints nor do they listen to the people who's houses were demolished in a landslide as a direct result of clear-cut logging. Julie ends up staying in the tree for 2 yrs!

While in the tree she is buffeted by storms, snow, hail. She gets frostbite on her toes and has to learn to keep warm and dry. She also learns to climb around in this tree.

Good balance between explaining the environmental concerns of the activists and telling her personal story.

Julia is a courageous young woman. This book gave me a good understanding of the reasons behind protesting against clear cut logging.

Julia Butterfly Hill lived in a redwood tree called "Luna" for 738 days to draw attention to the dangers of deforestation, and to save the old growth forest near Stafford, California. The clear-cutting practices of the Pacific Lumber Company had led to a series of events, including mudslides, the decimation of animal habitats, and the death of an environmental activist named David Chain. Believing that one person could make a difference, Julia climbed the tree with the support of an organization called Earth First!, and remained there until an agreement could be reached to save "Luna" and her surrounding habitat. I have read about inspiring people, but this has to be one of the most selfless and genuine displays of heroism I have ever seen.
What I found most compelling about this book, other than the obvious things - like the idea of a woman living in a tree for two years - was her many descriptions of what she witnessed while perched in "Luna." Hill made friends with flying squirrels, which she referred to as her kids, and remarked that they "didn't know how to share." She had to feed them separately. She also talked about the different grooves in the tree, and how by being barefoot she was able to navigate through the branches and climb to the top to get a better view of her surroundings. At these heights, because the old growth redwoods are more than a thousand years old, huckleberries and other edibles grow and are rarely seen by humans. Hill developed a symbiotic relationship with the bugs she encountered, because she said that after living in their environment, she came to realize that all life is precious.
Also from her perch in Luna, she was able to witness the dangers of deforestation. As an act of course, the Pacific Lumber company, with the consent of the United States government, would douse the lands with napalm and diesel fuel to prevent the forests from regenerating. She said the gas burned her eyes and caused her to have incessant nosebleeds. Hill took photos and videos to document the time she spent in the tree, and there are images in Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods that depict the gassing and burning of the California Redwoods. She shared her story with news outlets, and had several celebrity visitors spend time with her in the tree, including Woody Harrelson, Bonnie Raitt, and Joan Baez.
I love to be inspired, and I think the message of this book is a great one. She has several powerful quotes littered throughout her story, such as, "Go look into a child's eyes, and know that the simplest sacrifices you make today can be the greatest gift for their future." I am sure that through her actions, Julia has helped to preserve a bit of our collective history. She also helped stop a giant corporation from destroying the health and property of a neighborhood of people, and I will always be in awe of her years spent in sacrifice.

Absolutely INCREDIBLE book and story. Julia is my hero. I found it beyond inspiring as Julia recalls her time in Luna the redwood, her passion for the forest and nature, and educates the reader on the devastating realities facing old growth redwoods. I loved her spiritual connection that I also connect with them walking amongst these magical giants. Top 5 favorite books just because of how much it spoke to me. You can tell the author isn’t a professional writer but her passion and story transcends this and makes for an amazing read.

I met this woman after I listened to her speak at my college. She signed my copy of this work. Also she was amazing and very inspiring. I will have to reread this. She is the reason for a lot of my little behaviors. Even one person can make a difference.

The Legacy of Luna is the story about Julia Butterfly Hill, who lived in a redwood tree for 2 years to keep it from being logged and to try to raise awareness about the logging of old growth redwood forests. It's an interesting story because it's so unusual, and it's a topic that can easily get me feeling passionate about the environmental movement. But Julia Hill is a very strange person and a very strange writer. She could really have used a stronger editor, if she had one at all. Overall, the book vacillates between cheesy, pedantic, and overly earnest writing styles, none of which were very appealing. In the end, I'm glad I read it but would never recommend it to anyone unless they really wanted to hear the first hand account of this famous story.