Elden Hughes, center, and his wife Patty take the desert protection campaign to the White House in the 1990's. Here, Elden introduces President Clinton to a desert tortoise.

The Los Angeles Times carried an impressive obituary of Elden Hughes who died Dec. 4 at age 80. The story listed his many environmental accomplishments, among them work he did that led to passage of the Desert Protection Act in 1994 and the designation of Joshua Tree and Death Valley as national parks.

When I became a Sierra Club member, Elden’s column as Chapter chair always appeared on this page; it was my introduction to the Chapter, its many conservation and political campaigns and battles, it’s many hikes and activities that would teach me about lands in my own backyard and beyond.

The national Sierra Club said of his life: As chair of the Sierra Club’s California Desert Committee, Hughes was one of the key architects of the 1994 California Desert Protection Act and for decades was a leading voice in educating the public and decision-makers about the priceless resources in California’s deserts. Along with scores of other activists, he traversed the desert identifying wild lands and wildlife deserving of protection, and told their story to the people with the power to preserve these lands.

“Elden leaves a legacy that will outlast us all,” Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune says, “in the form of enduring conservation of this magnificent, diverse ecological region for future generations. He’s a wonderful example of how much one determined person can accomplish if he’s willing to work hard and share his vision with others.”

–Mary Forgione

Editor’s note: Judith Anderson worked alongside Elden Hughes on key desert campaigns and continues to work on desert issues for the Angeles Chapter. Here are some of her thoughts on what Elden accomplished for the Chapter and how he shared his vision of desert protection with the world.

AN APPRECIATION

By Judith Anderson

Elden could operate on a big stage, the desert, but he made it feel as though you were just sitting around a campfire with him and he was teaching you the words to Hi Joli, the tale of the Arab who took the U.S. Army’s camels across the California desert to Barstow. Elden’s guitar and leadership of campfire discussions helped educate several hundred Club members from across the country.

When Elden took on the task of getting support for the California Desert Protection Act, our targets included two senators from Utah, home of the Church of the Latter- Day saints. The idea was to show LDS support and gain their votes on the bill. While he wasn’t able to actually get church support, Elden didn’t give up. He followed a string of leads, one by one, until he found an elderly direct descendent of Brigham Young who would write a letter of support and detail how the act would be in line with the teachings of her ancestors.

As he gained support for the desert, Elden discovered that he didn’t have an essential tool for convincing people that he met about the importance of the campaign. He didn’t have an album of photos that included every one of the areas to be protected. So, he took on the task of photographing every one and, as he said it, “setting foot in each one.” On a series of trips, many of which were adventure tales in and of themselves (dead car battery in the middle of the Mojave Desert), he walked in and took photos of each of the 158 named study areas. No one else in the campaign could say the same. The big fat photo albums made many trips to Washington D.C., and other VIP venues.

One of the largest and lasting projects that Elden worked on for the Angeles Chapter was the establishment of a separate foundation, then called Friends of the Angeles Chapter Foundation, now simply, Angeles Chapter Foundation. Establishing the local foundation allowed members and non-members an easy way to support the Chapter by designating the foundation as the recipient for their bequests.