John Denver: Conservation Crooner

John Denver: Conservation Crooner

April 2010
John Denver
Conservation Crooner

“I’m a global citizen. I’ve created that for myself, and I don’t want to step away from it. I want to work in whatever I do…towards a world in balance, a world that creates a better quality of life for all people.” ― John Denver

Born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., John Denver’s devotion to songwriting was matched only by his love for his fellow man and the planet. In addition to imbuing hit songs like “Rocky Mountain High” and “Take Me Home, Country Roads” with images of environmental beauty, Denver became an outspoken advocate for progressive causes such as homelessness, poverty, global hunger and the African AIDS crisis. Following his musical successes in the 1970s, Denver founded his own environmental group, the Windstar Foundation, in 1976. He’d go on to help establish the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; serve as on-camera narrator for “In Partnership with Earth” alongside then-EPA Administrator William Reilly for Earth Day 1990; and film an episode for the Nature television series focusing on the environmental inspiration for his songs. Denver devoted equal efforts to his fellow man. He served as a member of the Presidential Commission on World and Domestic Hunger and helped found the Hunger Project, a group dedicated to ending hunger around the world. Denver also used his fame as a songwriter to serve as a cultural ambassador to the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, hoping to open cultural ties with the United States and promote peace. He remained a passionate progressive advocate until his death in 1997. Denver’s final song, “Yellowstone, I’m Coming Home,” was inspired by the beauty of rafting on the Colorado River.