Huey Johnson: Founder of the Resource Renewal Institute

 

Julia Hansen: EarthScope Student Reporter

Yesterday, three of our EarthScope Student Reporters had the opportunity to interview Huey Johnson of the Resource Renewal Institute. I had the pleasure of observing the interviews and I learned tremendously from what this elder had to say. He has this gift to look at environmental issues through a huge lens, taking vast amounts of factors into consideration. Early in the environmental movement, when Huey first started, many environmentalists tried to solve one problem at a time. Now, with help from Huey and others, environmental issues are solved through “Green Plans”. These green plans are “comprehensive packages for managing resources”. This way, we can not only save the Redwood trees, Sandhill cranes, and Coho salmon that Huey is so fond of, but we can save the entire ecosystems around them. “We are going to manage the environment.”

Huey is also very proud of his hunting experiences. For a long time, I had thought of hunting as a horrible sport just for the sake of killing wild animals. However, after listening to Huey tell us the true benefits of hunting, my opinion was changed completely. He told us about the time he shot a giant elk with a bow and arrow, which is a task that requires heightened awareness of your surroundings and incredible accuracy. Hunting wild animals sustainably completely bypasses the meat packing industry, which dumps unknown chemicals and fillers into their meats. It also takes people back to Native American roots, which is a tremendous part of the whole environmental movement, as our past interviewee, David Escobar, explained to us. It’s quite simple, the Native Americans loved the earth and every part of their lives had nature in mind: their oral history, spirituality and philosophy. Huey believes that every person needs to interact with nature so they can develop that same love. He recalls the day he went hunting for duck and a huge group of Sandhill cranes took refuge quite close to him. This was when decided to take action. Now, this spot is protected as a crane habitat.

Each US citizen owns two acres of land in the form of Public Land. Founded in 1972, The Trust for Public Land protects land, parks, trails, watersheds, and forests for the enjoyment of people. The crane habitat is one such project they took on. The reason why Huey enjoys hunting so much is because he’s taking advantage of his land.

Founder of the Forces of Nature: Environmental Elders Speak, Huey organizes interviews that allow older people to voice their experiences in the environmental movement. If you’d like to watch these interviews, go to http://theforcesofnature.com. He has inspired so many people, including myself.

-Julia Hansen, EarthScope Student Reporter