NATURE’s John Denver: Let This Be A Voice explores the American West with the late singer and conservationist.

Defying all conventional labels, John Denver held a singular place in American music: a songwriter whose immensely popular work was suffused with a deep and abiding kinship with the natural world.

In the months just prior to his death in a plane accident in 1997, Denver was filming an episode of the NATURE series, centering on the natural wonders that inspired many of his best-loved songs. The result is a poignant and melodic film that records his final journeys into the wilderness and contains his last song, composed while rafting along the Colorado River with his son and young daughter.

Online content for John Denver: Let This Be A Voice was originally posted December 1998.

A song, it is said, can lift the heaviest heart and put a sparkle in the saddest eye. And, as John Denver showed during a remarkable life cut short by an untimely accident, a song can also be one of nature’s best friends. NATURE presents an intimate portrait of the life and work of this popular singer-songwriter, who used his music and his prominence to work for the protection of some of Earth’s most extraordinary wildlife and wild places.

John Denver: Let This Be A Voice takes viewers down country roads and up to high rocky mountains. Along the way, it offers a wealth of spectacular side trips, from the roaring rapids of the Colorado River and the serene lakes of back-country Alaska to a golden eagle’s nest high on an Idaho cliff and a herd of wild mustangs on a Wyoming prairie.

The blond, bespectacled folk singer with the pleasing tenor voice first came to public attention in the 1960s as a member of the Chad Mitchell Trio. But while his guitar picking was popular, it was Denver’s songwriting that vaulted him to fame. In 1967, his “Leaving On a Jet Plane” became an international hit for the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Soon, he was singing his own hits, from the country anthem “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” to his ode to Colorado’s high country, “Rocky Mountain High.”

As time passed, however, Denver sought to use his fame to promote protection of the places he knew and loved — and that had served as the inspiration for much of his music. “My greatest inspiration has always been the out-of-doors,” he told fans during a 1995 chat on America Online. “The out-of-doors was my first and truest best friend. It was the desert in Arizona when I was in grade school. Later on, it was the woods around Montgomery, Alabama. Then, it was the plains or the wheat fields when I worked on wheat harvests. It was the forest and the lumber camp that I worked in when I was in college. Nature has always been my best friend. My songs are full of images from nature.”

One of the first major conservation efforts to gain Denver’s support was the 1970s campaign to preserve more than 100 million acres of wild public land in Alaska. Denver was a tireless spokesman for the effort, even making a television documentary that highlighted the dramatic scenery and abundant wildlife of America’s final frontier. In 1980, he joined millions of other Americans in celebrating Congress’s approval of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which set up dozens of new national parks, wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas. And he was one of the dignitaries invited to stand in the Oval Office of the White House while President Jimmy Carter signed the bill into law.

“I experienced one of the most fulfilling days of my life when I stood with President Carter… as [he] signed the Alaska Land Conservation Act into law,” Denver wrote in 1995. “The voice of the American people found harmony with that of the President and the Congress. The chorus that was raised said we will put aside this very special part of our heritage, hopefully forever, but at the very least until a greater need, even a national emergency, requires us to extract [the oil and gas that may be] hidden beneath its surface.”

Denver went on to win a host of awards for his conservation work and found a number of groups dedicated to environmental protection and ending world hunger. But he also found time to be outside, whether fishing for salmon in Alaska or watching the state’s remarkable caribou herds embark on their annual migrations across the tundra.

“To be human is to be nourished by the wild country,” he once wrote. “To know that there is a place where the eagle flies in freedom, the grizzly walks in majesty, and the caribou runs with the wind across the open tundra, lifts the human spirit.” Through his music and public appearances, he also encouraged others to find inspiration in nature and to work, in their own way, to preserve favorite wild places. But he counseled fans not to take on too much. “There are so many things that need to be done that sometimes it seems overwhelming,” he told them. “I try to remind everyone that no one person has to do it all, but if each one of us follows our heart and our own inclinations, we will find the small things that we can do. Together we will come up with enough to create a sustainable future and a healthy environment.”

Tragically, Denver, the son of a pilot and an enthusiastic amateur flyer himself, was killed in an October, 1997 plane crash. He left behind an impressive legacy, from a host of hummable hits to the scores of national parks and wildlife preserves that he helped establish. There are even John Denver scholarships for young scientists studying ecology. Together, these accomplishments will remind future generations of Denver’s commitment to nature.

“I think it’s so important that we always remember that nature, environment, wild places, and wild things are a big part of what makes us who and what we are as human beings,” he once said. “To deny this is to deny our own heritage, our own spirit, and our own souls.”

Nothing so captured John Denver’s imagination like flight. In addition to being an accomplished pilot, Denver was also a devotee of birds of prey, or raptors — the hawks and eagles that soar through the skies with grace and power. Indeed, Denver’s attraction to raptors soon drew him into a friendship that helped preserve one of North America’s most important raptor habitats.

In the 1970s, Denver befriended Morley Nelson, a legendary figure among raptor lovers who is featured in Let This Be A Voice.

Nelson, now in his 80s, is famous for helping cajole politicians into creating the world famous Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in Idaho. The 485,000-acre preserve straddles 81 miles of the Snake River and is centered on the river’s deep canyon. Here, cliffs tower 700 feet above the river and provide countless crags where hawks, eagles, and falcons nest.

Biologists believe the preserve attracts the greatest concentration of nesting birds of prey in North America — and perhaps the world. “The area is actually a giant, natural raptor nursery,” notes a print guide to the preserve published by the federal Bureau of Land Management. “Fifteen species nest here each spring. Nine other raptor species use the area during part of their annual migration.” Among the biggest visitors are golden eagles, seen perched in their cliffside nests in Let This Be A Voice.

But getting a good view is no easy task. Denver and Nelson had to don rock-climbing gear and rappel their way down a cliff to catch a glimpse of a fledgling eagle just days away from flying. The proud infant, however, seems regally indifferent to the dangling guests — and the cars racing along a highway far below.

The preserve is also home to one of the world’s speediest raptors: the sleek prairie falcon, which has been known to dive at speeds of 70 miles per hour. Indeed, the preserve is especially important for the falcons. About 200 pairs nest there, representing up to 25 percent of the known population. The falcons appear to be attracted to the area by the fine nesting ledges and the abundant populations of Townsend’s ground squirrels that scurry around the nearby prairies. Eagles, on the other hand, prefer heartier fare: black-tailed jackrabbits. Thanks to Nelson’s work and Denver’s support, thousands of people can now flock to the rugged preserve each year to watch the nesting raptors soar and wheel in the clear Idaho sky. Who knows — perhaps their lazy circles will move another young musician to song — and to action.

When he was still a child, John Denver was moved to write his first song by the rushing waters of a Colorado River tributary. In Let This Be A Voice, the adult songwriter returns to the Colorado’s mighty waters for the first time as an adult, taking an exciting raft trip with his children. Along the way, they marvel at the fossilized remains of ancient sea creatures and cavort in sparkling waterfalls. Denver even uses a riverside cavern as an impromptu concert hall, his music echoing off stone walls carved by time.

Once, riding the Colorado’s towering whitewater rapids was considered impossible. Today, however, the advent of modern inflatable rafts has allowed thousands of people every year to ponder the river canyon’s beauty — and fury — in safety. Indeed, up to 23,000 people take the 300-mile journey down the canyon each year with professional guides, with another 3,500 setting out on their own private expeditions. Either way, the river has become so popular that permits are required to limit the number of trips and prevent aquatic traffic jams. In fact, some private expeditions must wait a dozen years to take their turns, though you can usually reserve a spot on a guided trip just a few months in advance.

Still, “private permits to raft the Colorado through the Grand Canyon are some of the most sought-after river permits in the world,” notes a river ranger with the National Park Service, which regulates use of the river. “They allow river runners to challenge themselves against nature, experience the wilds of the Grand Canyon, and run rapids that exceed the majority of North American rivers.”

In their floats down the Colorado, visitors may feel as if they’re making a conquest of an undiscovered country, but they are actually retracing the route of a remarkable traveler, a one-armed explorer who shared John Denver’s appetite for adventure and love for nature. Like Denver, he also found music in the pools and canyons of the Colorado River. His name was John Wesley Powell, and, in 1869, he led the first successful trip down the Colorado. The thousand-mile journey, made by 10 men in four high-sided rowboats, was considered suicidal at the time.

But the 35-year-old Powell, a geologist and teacher who had lost an arm in the Civil War, proved up to the task. Though half the party abandoned the expedition before it was over and several members were killed by Indians, Powell emerged at the end with proof that the river could be tamed.

Like Denver, Powell brought a sense of wonder to the canyon. “We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown,” he wrote in August, 1869, in an account reprinted in his 1895 THE CANYONS OF THE COLORADO. “We are three quarters of a mile in the depths of the earth. The great river shrinks into insignificance as it dashes its angry waves against the walls and cliffs that rise to the world above.”

Amidst the magnificence, however, Powell also found music. “The Grand Canyon is a land of song,” he wrote, in a sentiment that would be echoed generations later by a talented musician. “Mountains of music swell in the rivers, hills of music billow in the creeks, and meadows of music murmur in the rills that ripple over the rocks. Altogether it is a symphony of multitudinous melodies. All this is the music of waters.” If you raft the Colorado and follow in the path of Powell and Denver, you may someday hear that music for yourself.

John Denver: The Rocky Mountain High Fan Club
http://www.rockymtnhigh.org/
Extensive links to the singer’s music, words, and environmental activities.

Windstar Foundation
http://www.wstar.org/
A group founded by Denver to “inspire individuals to make responsible choices and take direct personal actions to achieve a peaceful and environmentally sustainable future.”

John Denver Memorial Scholarship in Tropical Ecology
http://www.umsl.edu/~biology/icte/scholarships/denver.html
Awarded to young ecologists by the International Center for Tropical Ecology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

KBR’s World of Wild Horses and Burros
http://www.kbrhorse.net/whb/blmhrs01.html
Over 200 pages dedicated to wild horses, wild horse adoptions, wild horse care and training, and wild horse management.

Everything Alaska
http://www.everythingalaska.com/eta.al.html
A guide to the 49th state.

Raptor Rapture
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/032097/preybar.html
A story about Morley Nelson’s role in establishing the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, by Joel Connelly of the Seattle POST-INTELLIGENCER.

The Peregrine Fund and the World Center for Birds of Prey
http://www.peregrinefund.org/
Learn about hawks, eagles, falcons, and more.

Jacques Cousteau Remembered
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9706/25/cousteau.obit/index.html
A report on the famous French oceanographer, and friend of John Denver’s, from CNN.

A Trip Down the Colorado River Through the Grand Canyon
http://www.riverslime.com/thecanyon/index.php
A first-hand report from travelers Bessy Le and Chris Whiting of their trip.

Grand Canyon River Running
http://www.azstarnet.com/grandcanyonriver/
Traveler Leonard Thurman on getting wet on the Colorado.

John Wesley Powell
http://www.powellmuseum.org/MajorPowell.html
Information on the great explorer from the John Wesley Powell Memorial Museum in Page, AZ.

Yellowstone Wolf Report
http://www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/wolf.htm
A rundown of what is happening with the wolves in Yellowstone.

Alaska Public Lands Information
http://www.nps.gov/aplic/center/index.html
Alaska’s splendor, from the National Park Service.

Alaska Studies: Teacher’s Toolbox
http://www.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/akhistory/aktools.htm
Extensive links and information.

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
http://www.nps.gov/lacl/
Covering four million acres, the spectacular scenery stretches from the shores of Alaska’s Cook Inlet to the tundra-covered hills of the western interior.

Books

Denver, John. TAKE ME HOME: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Aspen, CO: Harmony Books, 1994.

Dewitt, Lynda. EAGLES, HAWKS, AND OTHER BIRDS OF PREY. New York: Franklin Watts, 1989.

Edberg, Stephen. OBSERVING COMETS, ASTEROIDS, METEORS, AND THE ZODIACAL LIGHT (Practical Astronomy Handbooks 5). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Johnsgard, Paul A. HAWKS, EAGLES, AND FALCONS OF NORTH AMERICA. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990.

Kirkpatrick, Jay. INTO THE WIND: WILD HORSES OF NORTH AMERICA. New York: Northword, 1994.

Lavender, David. RIVER RUNNERS OF THE GRAND CANYON. Flagstaff, AZ: Grand Canyon Natural History Association, 1996.

McPhee, John. COMING INTO THE COUNTRY. New York: Noonday, 1991.

Michener, James. ALASKA. New York: Crest, 1994.

Powell, John Wesley. THE EXPLORATION OF THE COLORADO RIVER AND ITS CANYONS (Penguin Nature Classics). New York: Penguin, 1997.

Zwinger, Ann. DOWNCANYON: A NATURALIST EXPLORES THE COLORADO RIVER THROUGH GRAND CANYON. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1995.

Online content for John Denver: Let This Be A Voice originally posted December 1998.