California: Tree-Sitter Strikes Deal
12/17/99
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Deal Struck for Tree Sitter
Source: The Associated Press
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: December 17, 1999
Byline: JENNIFER COLEMAN
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A woman who has spent two years living in
an ancient redwood to protest logging reached a deal Friday with a
lumber company and promised to climb down from her 180-foot perch.
Details of the deal between Julia ``Butterfly'' Hill and the Pacific
Lumber Co. were not disclosed, but they were expected to make a joint
announcement - on the ground - on Saturday.
Two sources familiar with the pact said Hill and her supporters had
been negotiating for her to pay $50,000 to Pacific Lumber to make up
for lost logging revenue, while Pacific Lumber would spare Hill's
precious tree and a surrounding 200-foot zone from logging.
Hill has been in the 600-year-old tree since Dec. 19, 1997, in the
coastal hills about 200 miles north of San Francisco.
``We do have an agreement, but out of respect to the agreement we
have made and to Miss Hill, we will not be making any statements at
this time,'' said Pacific Lumber spokesman Josh Reiss.
The company would donate the $50,000 to Humboldt State University for
forestry studies, said a company employee who asked not to be
identified.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who supported a deal to protect redwoods in
the area, said she was ``very pleased that this agreement has been
reached. I've talked with all the parties involved. I believe Pacific
Lumber did the right thing. I am now hopeful the Headwaters agreement
will be carried out.''
Hill, 25, had refused to come down until she received assurances that
the tree in which she lived on a tarp-covered wood platform would be
spared, along with a buffer zone around the tree.
The tree - which Hill dubbed ``Luna'' - is located on a ridge above
Stafford south of Pacific Lumber's headquarters in nearby Scotia.
The region has been the site of numerous logging protests during the
past decade focusing on the Headwaters Forest Complex, a 94-square-
mile region that includes thousands of acres of ancient redwoods.
In March, Pacific Lumber and the state and federal governments signed
an agreement to turn about 10,000 acres of the forest, including
nearly 5,000 acres of redwoods, into a public preserve.