Lisa the Tree Hugger

In the episode, Lisa falls in love with the leader of a radical environmentalist group and tries to impress him by living in Springfield's oldest tree in order to keep it from being cut down.

Upon returning home, Lisa learns that the tree was not cut down by the loggers but rather struck down by lightning (attracted by a metal bucket she left near the top), and that she is presumed dead.

Marge is angered by Lisa's decision, recalling the bad luck that the family has suffered in the past when committing farces for a noble cause, but Homer and Bart go along with it and quickly begin to take advantage of the sympathy of the townspeople.

[1] It is based on a story Selman heard on the radio about Julia Butterfly Hill, an American activist and environmentalist who lived in a millennium-old California Redwood tree known as Luna for more than two years between 1997 and 1999 to prevent loggers from cutting it down.

[5] In his 2007 book Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S., Roland Kelts analyzed the scenes from the beginning of the episode in which Bart hangs menus on doors for a Thai restaurant.

[6] Kelts wrote: "Bart needs cash to buy a Japanese game console, so he takes a job delivering flyers for a Thai restaurant.

Staff members Mike Scully, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Matt Selman, Don Payne, Tom Gammill, Tim Long, Yeardley Smith, and Steven Dean Moore participated in the DVD audio commentary for the episode.

DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson described it as "arguably [the season's] best show," adding: "The first act fares best, as I love Marge’s tune about saving, and 'Menu Boy' offers a clever spoof of martial arts-based action flicks.

"[7] Den of Geek critic Matt Haigh cited "Lisa the Tree Hugger" as one of the highlights of season twelve in his review of the box set.

Julia Butterfly Hill , an environmentalist who lived in a tree for more than two years to prevent it from being cut down, was the inspiration for the episode.