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Descent Letter
(written by Julia Butterfly Hill upon her descent from Luna, spring 2000)
Greetings
Friends In the Love and Light of All Creation,
Photos courtesy of Eric
Slomanson, Doug Thron,
Julia Butterfly Hill,
Kim Komenich, Dale Hill. With the towering spirit of Luna in my heart, and my feet firmly planted
on the Earth, I want to reach out to all of you who have supported
our efforts to protect this magnificent 1,000 year old redwood tree.
I send
my deepest gratitude to you for caring about the health of our forests
and futures.
I climbed into Luna’s branches knowing only that it was
horribly wrong to turn beautiful forests into clearcuts and mudslides.
Seeing this
devastation
from a treetop perspective raised my awareness and inspired me
to act on behalf of all life. In my 738-day vigil I withstood 90 mph
winds during two
powerful winters, harassment from a helicopter which nearly tore
me out of my perch 180 feet high in the tree, and the tremendous
sorrow of witnessing
the trees surrounding Luna crash to the ground. These were some
of the hardest experiences of my life emotionally, mentally, physically
and spiritually.
Yet I was determined not to let my feet touch the ground until
I had done everything in my power to protect Luna and make the world
aware of the plight
of our ancient forests.
The commitment of people from all walks of life to ensure that Luna be
permanently protected wore away at the stone hearts of Pacific Lumber/Maxxam
Corporation figureheads. Conversations eventually led to negotiations.
After a long and often overwhelming process, we reached an agreement
that permanently
protects Luna and a 2.9 acre grove around her. Luna now stands as
a beacon of hope and inspiration to the world.
My hope and goal is to transform this two-year treesit into a lifetime
of activism on the ground. To this end, I have founded the Circle of
Life Foundation. Our mission is to develop a sustainable culture of
life on Earth
rooted deeply in love and respect for the interconnectedness of all
beings, by inspiring, supporting, and networking individuals, organizations
and communities
around the world to create social and environmental solutions. We are
working to bring together diverse interests — environmental, youth,
labor, religious, social justice and indigenous rights — and to unite
our efforts to create a better world. We are also building bridges with other
conservation-oriented individuals and organizations by speaking at events
to share my experience and to endorse the work of other groups, as well as
helping to direct funding to those efforts when possible.
In the short time that I’ve been down, I’ve testified at the
California Board of Forestry in support of a ban on old-growth logging, presented
at a national conference on civil disobedience, and joined Dineh elders at
Big Mountain in their resistance against being relocated from their ancestral
lands. I’ve also met with natural resources administrators in Sacramento
and Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office in Washington DC. The media that
was generated by these actions filtered into the living rooms of citizens
who can also have a voice and a vote to protect the environment and the quality
of our lives.
The Circle of Life Foundation and other organizations are continuing
to call upon our legislative leaders to enact laws that will provide
for the true sustainability of life for all species and restore the
areas that
have been seriously damaged by the continuous and blatantly destructive
logging practices here on the North Coast of California. Protecting
Luna was a milestone,
yet we need to continue to work to protect the remaining old-growth
trees and watersheds in Headwaters Forest and beyond. We need your
support to continue
doing this proactive work on behalf of all life. Contributions would
be greatly appreciated. Please help us keep the circle wide and full
of life and diversity.
With blessings, gratitude, and love,
Julia Butterfly Hill
Spring 2000
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