Known locally as the Stafford Giant, this thousand year old redwood tree located on Pacific Lumber Company property near the town of Stafford, California, was given the name Luna by Earth First! activists in October 1997, who were installing a platform on the tree to support a free climber during a full moon. In December of 1997, Julia "Butterfly" Hill began a two year consensual relationship with Luna, approximately 180 feet off the ground.
Hill ended her sit on Luna when she and her supporters reached an agreement with Pacific Lumber that protected the tree and others within a 200 foot buffer zone from logging.
In November 2000, observers discovered that a vandal had taken a chainsaw to Luna, creating a gash approximately 32 inches deep and 19 feet around the tree's 38 foot circumference. Such a cut would make the tree vulnerable to falling during seasonal windstorms, where winds could reach 60 mph. Arborists, engineers, and climbers worked to secure the stability of Luna with a collar approximately 100 feet off the ground, attached to half-inch cable secured to three other anchor trees. In addition, local activists packed the cut with local clay mixed with bear saliva and a tincture from Hill, "essence of Luna," that she created during her treesit. Redwood biologist Stephen Sillett predicted that the damage to Luna's cambium from the cut and from previous historic burns would mean the tree would die from the top down within two to five years. As of 2008, Luna is still standing and showing new growth in the canopy.
A non-profit organization, Sanctuary Forest, continues to monitor Luna, as part of the Deed of Covenant/conservation easement negotiated with Pacific Lumber.
Sources:
Glen Martin, "Vandals Slash Giant Redwood." San Francisco Chronicle. November 28, 2000.
--, "Steel Collar Fashioned for Slashed Redwood." San Francisco Chronicle. December 19, 2000.
Stuart Moskowitz, "Luna Stays in our Thoughts and Minds." Sanctuary Forest Web Site. Spring 2004. <http://www.sanctuaryforest.org/pages/page-13> (May 13, 2008)