Baez, Butterfly Sitting in a Tree
E! Online, May 24, 2006 1:27 pm PDTJoan Baez is giving new meaning to the term tree-hugger.
The legendary folk singer is one of several environmental activists who have committed to living in a tree—yes, living in a tree—in order to raise awareness about a 14-acre Los Angeles farm that faces destruction by the city.
According to the Associated Press, the 65-year-old songbird will take up residence in the arboreal abode alongside veteran tree-dweller Julia "Butterfly" Hill and a handful of other activists, each of whom will take turns in the tree to prevent loggers from cutting it down.
The group will reside on two door-sized platforms, per the AP, that have been placed in the tree branches for the sitters, while a group of supporters has set up an encampment on the ground.
The Hill-lead group is undergoing the sit-in to protest the impending demolition of the large-scale urban farm.
According to the AP, nearly 350 farmer families face eviction from the land after the nonprofit group Trust for Public Land failed to make good on a contract signed last April with landowner Ralph Horowitz.
The Trust reportedly fell $10 million shy of the $16.35 million price tag for the land, which would have prevented the mostly Central American workers from losing both their jobs and their property. The deadline for the group to raise the required funds was Monday.
Hill told the news outlet that the idea to protest came about after financial assistance promised to the group by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa failed to come into play.
While Villaraigosa has yet to respond to the impending tree-in, Deputy Mayor Larry Frank offered his support in helping move the fruit and vegetable farmers to other nearby plots of land.
For her part, Hill is no stranger to becoming one with nature.
In 1997, the then-23-year-old activist took up residence in a giant redwood tree alongside the Northern California coastline in order to prevent the 1,000-year-old lumber's destruction by loggers. She remained aloft in the tree for more than two years.
Baez, though, likely won't last that long. She kicks off a small U.S. tour in Lancaster, Calif., on Oct. 17.
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