Anti-Logging Activist Sues, Saying Ads Mock Her Life in a Tree

SAN FRANCISCO —  Julia “Butterfly” Hill, who lived in a tree for more than two years to prevent the logging of old-growth redwoods, says she has been falsely portrayed in unauthorized print ads.

Hill alleges that AT & T Corp., OmniSky Corp. and the TBWA Chiat / Day advertising agency made a mockery of her likeness to sell wireless Internet service.

Hill, 26, who in December descended from the 1,000-year-old redwood she named Luna and became the focus of international media attention, filed a suit Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. She was traveling Tuesday and unavailable for comment.

The print ad features a photograph of a woman who looks like Hill sitting on a wooden platform cluttered with what appear to be her belongings: tarps, a plaid blanket, a small gas stove, fingerless gloves and other outdoor equipment, the suit says. The photo resembles news photographs of Hill during her protest in Humboldt County, about 300 miles north of San Francisco, the suit says.

But the picture shows a woman holding a hand-held OmniSky wireless Internet device. At the base of the tree is a man holding two large buckets looking up a rope ladder. A logo on his jacket reads “sponge-bath.com.”

“That she, who had endured severe physical, mental and spiritual challenges and risked her life in support of her efforts to save old-growth forests, would use a wireless Internet and e-mail service to call a man to bathe her and would endorse defendants’ products in a commercial advertisement was way beyond comprehension,” Hill’s lawyer, Ina J. Risman of San Francisco, wrote in court papers.

AT & T spokeswoman Kathi Oram said the communication giant was not involved in the advertisement, which appeared in Martha Stewart Living, Men’s Journal, Newsweek, Vanity Fair and in other national publications. Palo Alto-based OmniSky uses AT & T’s wireless network to offer wireless Internet service, Oram said.

OmniSky has recently discontinued the ads, which appeared briefly in the spring, company spokeswoman Amanda Higgins said.

“We haven’t been served with any papers yet,” she said. She refused to comment further.

Hill came down from the tree after Pacific Lumber Co. agreed to spare Luna and create a 2.9-mile buffer zone around it. Supporters pledged to pay $50,000 to make up for lost logging revenue.

Hill has recently published a book, “The Legacy of Luna,” chronicling her experiences 180 feet high in the forest.