Robert Redford
This Sundance Kid painted more than just the channel green
Robert Redford’s interest the natural world began after visiting Yosemite National Park in California at age 11, a reward for successfully battling a mild bout of polio. He worked at the park as a teenager before coming back in the late ’80s to produce and narrate Yosemite: The Fate of Heaven, an award-winning documentary about potential environmental damage due to three million annual visitors. The fate of national parks is a concern shared by other stars, like Alanis Morissette.
Redford’s eco-friendly mountain community
Redford’s successful film career also allowed him to show his devotion to another locale. In 1969, he bought land in Utah and created Sundance Village, a mountain community dedicated to environmental conservation and art. Timphaven ski resort (on Mount Timpanogos) and surrounding land in Provo Canyon made up his purchase. And yes, Redford named the community after his character in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Organization memberships
In ’81 Redford and a group of friends and colleagues formed the Sundance Institute. The nonprofit organization continues to discover and develop independent film and theater artists, as well as aspiring filmmakers.
Redford has been on the board of the Natural Resource Defense Council for 30 years. He created the Institute for Resource Management (IRM), which sponsors conferences on environmental issues, and the North Fork Preservation Alliance (NFPA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving open spaces and wildlands in Provo’s North Fork Canyon.
The Redford Family Nature and Wildlife Preserve, an 860-acre parcel of Sundance, was donated to Utah Open Lands in 1998 to protect it from development.
“The Green” TV
Not only did the Sundance Institute spawn the annual Sundance Film Festival in nearby Park City, Utah, but an offshoot Sundance Channel was launched in 1996, before going “green” in spring of 2007. A three-hour prime-time programming block known as The Green features programming focused on sustainability and the environment.
This multiple award-winning actor / director cites global warming as the most compelling issue today, and says he tailors his behavior accordingly. “I try to keep the Native American philosophy in the forefront of my thinking always,” Redford told Variety. “Whatever you do today, think about what it means seven generations down the line.”
