The Redwoods & Headwaters
Humboldt County’s coast redwoods are among the oldest and tallest living things on Earth. By the late 1990s the Pacific Lumber Company — taken over by the Maxxam Corporation — was clear-cutting ancient groves, and activists were fighting to save the Headwaters Forest. Julia joined the fight.
Part of Julia Butterfly Hill
14 moments in this segment.
- — A century of redwood logging. For over a century the giant coast redwoods of Humboldt had been felled; by the 1990s only a small fraction of the original old-growth forest remained.
- — A century of redwood logging. Archival footage of mid-century redwood logging — the industry that had already felled most of the ancient groves.
- — Maxxam & Charles Hurwitz. The corporate raider whose leveraged buyout of Pacific Lumber drove the accelerated clear-cutting of ancient redwoods.
- — Pacific Lumber & Maxxam. Once a relatively sustainable family firm, the Pacific Lumber Company was bought by Charles Hurwitz’s Maxxam Corporation in 1985 and dramatically accelerated clear-cutting of ancient redwoods to service debt.
- — Clear-cutting beside the giants. A NARA photograph: within a mile of magnificent old-growth redwoods, some of the worst clear-cutting in California — the destruction the activists fought.
- — Judi Bari & Redwood Summer. Earth First! organiser Judi Bari, nearly killed by a car bomb in 1990, led the redwood-defence movement Julia joined.
- — The tallest trees on Earth. Coast redwoods are the tallest living things on the planet — and the giants Julia fought to protect were among the oldest.
- — The Headwaters protests. Throughout the 1990s, Earth First! and other activists staged rallies, blockades and tree-sits to defend the Headwaters redwoods — the movement Julia joined.
- — Inside the Headwaters Forest Reserve. A walk through the Headwaters Forest Reserve, the old-growth redwoods at the centre of the fight.
- — The ancient giants. Coast redwoods like the "Lost Monarch" are among the largest and oldest living things on Earth — the kind of tree Luna was. The subject dates from 1995; this photograph was taken in 2008.
- — The Headwaters Forest. in Humboldt County held some of the last unprotected old-growth redwoods. Its fate was the centre of one of the era’s biggest environmental battles. The subject dates from 1996; this photograph was taken in 2010.
- — Avenue of the Giants. The old-growth groves of Humboldt — the cathedral forest Julia walked into and resolved to defend. The subject dates from 1997; this photograph was taken in 2012.
- — Humboldt Redwoods. The Humboldt redwoods — the landscape and the stakes of the fight for the ancient forest. The subject dates from 1997; this photograph was taken in 2013.
- — The Headwaters Reserve protected. After years of struggle, the Headwaters Forest Reserve was established in 1999 — the campaign Julia’s sit became the symbol of. The subject dates from 1999; this photograph was taken in 2015.
