the Adventure Lifestyle magazine

• • • • journey's end Not long ago, someone took a chainsaw to Luna. You know Luna. The mother of redwoods. The matronly giant who held Julia Butterfly Hill in her upper boughs during a two-year protest against Pacific Lumber/Maxxam Corp. in Humbolt County, California (and against old-growth forest fell'ers around the world). Some called julia Butterfly's actions eco-terrorism; others called them near-martyrdom. But through the activist's tree-sit, the 200-foot-tall red- wood became the cradle of post-modern tree activism in America. Late last November, that cradle was rocked. During Thanksgiving weekend, an unknown perpetrator put a 36-inch chainsaw to Luna's trunk, slicing 32 inches into her belly and 18 feet around her base, destroying 60 percent of her ability to withstand the elements. As of mid-january the perpetrator(s) had not been identified, but reports from the San Francisco Chronicle in late November stated that "fresh sawdust at the scene and the precise placement of the cut indi- cates that the vandalism occurred ... by someone adept at sawing large trees." Fortunately for the 1000-year-old redwood, the wound was discov- ered within a couple of weeks of its infliction, just in time to protect Luna from the winter coastal winds that sweep through the Headwaters Forest south of where the tree stands, legally protected by a 1999 agreement between Pacific Lumber and julia Butterfly's supporters. Today, Luna is still standing due to the swift action taken by Circle of Life Foundation, an organization established to support julia Butterfly during her protest and that now focuses on grassroots actions against " all forms of social injustice," according to the group's development coordinator, Dawn Griffin . When Circle of Life learned of the assault, it assembled a "medical team" of arborists, engineers and foresters to administer emergency treatment. So far, the treat- ment has worked. "We have reinforced the tree with cables and steel bracing to replace some of the strength that has been lost," said civil engineer Steve Salzman, one of the rescue team. But despite the team's intervention, he added, "We will never be able to fully replicate the original strength embodied in the dynamic living system of a redwood tree." By early january, an investigation into the whos, hows and whys of the attack was underway. But Circle of Life staffers made no comments or spec- ulations. Their primary concern was to save the tree. "The rest will come when it does," Griffin said. julia Butterfly's official statement communicated the nature of her relationship with Luna and all life-forms: "Although symbols can be attacked, what they stand for can never be destroyed." Blessings go out to Luna. May the wind be kind and the wounds heal quickly. •

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