LightHawk

In 1971 Michael Stewartt opposed a plan to build a coal-fired power plant in Utah that would have impacted the air quality and obscured views of the Colorado Plateau and the Grand Canyon. To demonstrate his viewpoint, he flew reporters for an up-close look at the smoke plume of a similar plant. Their reporting made the national news, and ultimately sparked public opposition to the proposal. That power plant was never built and Stewartt founded LightHawk who have been working ever since to provide the aerial perspective to benefit environmental protection. What began nearly 35 years ago with one man and a borrowed plane has expanded to include more than 200 volunteer pilots who fly to protect land, water and wildlife in 32 states and ten countries. Though LightHawks scope and scale has grown, the general idea remains the same. By sharing the aerial perspective with carefully selected passengers, LightHawk flights clearly illustrate environmental threats and reveal potential solutions, providing the conservation community with invaluable information and inspiring people to take action. LightHawk is a nonprofit, volunteer pilot-based organization that provides donated flights through a network of volunteer pilots to more than 250 partner conservation groups throughout Central and North America each year. Our mission is to champion environmental protection through the unique perspective of flight. By granting donated flights, LightHawk helps illuminate how the health of human and wildlife populations is inextricably tied to the environment. How could shrimp farming hurt coastal communities? From the air, you can see how removing mangroves to install huge shrimp ponds destroys an important storm surge barrier which could lead to flooding and other destruction.