Celebrate Trees, an Evening with Naturalist John Muir

Save the Date: January 14, 2012

reserve your FREE ticket now; seating is limited to first come - first seated
Balboa Park - Recital Hall
5:30pm - 8:30pm

Celebrate Trees

"An evening with John Muir"

a performance by Doug Hulmes

reception from 5:30pm - 6:30pm
(educational tables, refreshments, slide-show, music and introductions)

Doors close: Performance begins 6:30pm
audience question and answer period to follow

(location is across from SD Hall of Champions sports museum off Park Blvd./Presidents Way) - ample free parking


What is Chautauqua?

Chautauquans are scholars who portray historical characters. Doug Hulmes presents a chautauqua of John Muir, presenting an environmental perspective of the West. Performing as Muir helps bring to life the ideas that began during the past century in response to the wide scale destruction of public lands by some of the early pioneers. Doug Hulmes typically presents the character of John Muir in a 35 minute presentation, then takes questions from the audience as the Muir, and closes with questions as a scholar of John Muir.

John Muir has been referred to a naturalist, explorer, inventor, and philosopher. A Scottish immigrant, John spent much of his adult life exploring and studying the Sierras and Alaska. The author of more than two dozen books, John gained respect as the nation's foremost spokesperson for wilderness and the ideas of preservation and reverence for life. He promoted the designation of Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Petrified Forest National Parks, and was one of the founders and first president of the Sierra Club in 1892.

About Doug Hulmes:

Doug Hulmes is a Professor of Environmental Studies at Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona, where he teaches courses in ecology, environmental education, and environmental history and philosophy. Hulmes has performed John Muir since 1993.

Doug came to perform as John Muir because of a course that he teaches on "Philosophies of the Interpretive Naturalists. He depicted John Muir at an Arizona Environmental Education Conference in the early 1990s, and in 1993 was invited to perform John Muir at "The Second Opening of the West: Ideas of Nature in Arizona" conference funded by an Exemplary Award grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Since 1993, Doug was under contract with the Arizona Humanities Council for seven years and performed throughout the state for a variety of organizations, schools, libraries, state parks, and lecture series.In addition to Doug's engagements in Arizona, he has given performances in Washington, California, Utah, New Mexico, Minnesota, Norway, and Scotland, and has given benefit performances for the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Durango Nature Center, Gore Range Environmental School in Colorado, and the Jefferson County Land Trust in Port Townsend, Washington.

Doug was the co-recipient of the 1990 National Wilderness Education Award, sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service and the Izaac Walton League. In 1994, Doug received the Educator of the Year and President's Appreciation Awards from the Arizona Environmental Education Association.. In 1997 Doug was a Guest Professor at Telemark College where he taught with Norway's first interdisciplinary Environmental Studies Program.

In May of 1998, Doug received an award for outstanding presenter at the National Wilderness Rangers Conference in Durango, Colorado, for his performance of John Muir. He gave eight performances in 2000 for the California Sesquicentennial at the State Capital in Sacramento. In September 2004, Doug was invited to perform in Washington D. C. for the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Wilderness Act.

While in Scotland in May, 2001, he visited John Muir's birthplace in Dunbar, and while visiting a local museum discovered that his ancestors likely came from Dunbar as well. In fact, the Earl of Dunbar of the castle ruins that John Muir played on as a child, was very likely one of his ancestors.

He has recently returned from a sabbatical ('06-'07) researching the traditions, mythology and folklore of planting sacred trees on farms in Norway and Sweden.

The performance is funded by a Cal-Fire grant to CCSE’s Advice and Technical Assistance Center for Urban Forestry. To register, go to www.energycenter.org/forestry or call (858) 244-1177.

This event is completed