She closed by citing ways in which people can impact corporations that value profit over people and the environment. Hill did not intentionally seek out activism, she said, but was on a search for purpose after recovering from an automobile accident involving a drunk driver in 1997 while living in Arkansas. She went to California and for the first time, entered an old-growth forest with redwoods 200 to 300 feet high and 2,000 to 3,000 years old. The experience, she said, changed her life forever. Hill said she had been unaware of logging companies' practice of harvesting old-growth forests.
Trees help maintain the integrity of land and their absence makes land vulnerable to harsh weather.
When she learned of what was happening, Hill had an insight about accountability, she said. My walking away would've been as much a part of the slaughter of the redwoods as the actions of Maxxam Corporation. Hill said she withstood storms with up to 90 mph winds and tactics by Maxxam to force her to leave, such as hovering a twin-propeller helicopter above the tree and having security guards blow an air horn for eight days while preventing support members from providing her with supplies. In December 1999, when Maxxam agreed not to cut Luna or within a 200-foot radius of the tree, Hill climbed down. Hill is a slender woman with long, dark hair.