Soaring above oil and
gas wells in a six-person Cessna 210 is a far cry from flying in a
crowded commercial plane. LightHawk, a nonprofit airline, uses the
view to protect the environment. Based in San Francisco, Calif.;
Aspen, Colo; and Seattle, Wash., LightHawk flies nearly 1,300
politicos, conservationists and journalists over degraded
landscapes every year. “The perspective of flight is the most
honest and the most engaging perspective you can give to an issue,”
says Bruce Gordon, a veteran pilot and associate executive director
of LightHawk. “When you’re up in the air, the land speaks for
itself.” Since 1979, the nonprofit group has swelled from a
two-pilot crew to 150 volunteers who fly from the oil fields of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alaska to clear-cuts in
Chile. In the past, the group focused on forestry issues, but in
recent years it has flown folks over urban sprawl. Says Gordon,
“We’re helping activists who are the ground troops in all these
issues.”
For more information, contact Anne
Reynolds at 1007 Box 29231, San Francisco, CA 94129, (415/561-6250)
or e-mail sfo@lighthawk.org.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline A bird? A plane? It’s the environmental air force.
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