About Huey Johnson

Environmentalist Huey D. Johnson founded Resource Renewal Institute following his service as California Secretary of Resources in the Brown Administration (1978 -1982). His pioneering policy, Investing for Prosperity, was one of the first comprehensive and long-term environmental plans in existence. Since the early 1990’s, when the first nation-scale environmental policies appeared in the Netherlands and New Zealand, Mr. Johnson has promoted these and other Green Plans. He remains an authority on the subject and the third edition of his book, Green Plans: Blueprint for Sustainable Earth, was published in 2008 by University of Nebraska Press.

Mr. Johnson’s early career included serving as the Western Regional Director and later president of The Nature Conservancy where he was instrumental in many Western conservation victories such as Maui’s Seven Sacred Pools and Marin County’s Bolinas Lagoon and Marincello. Mr. Johnson founded The Trust for Public Land and The Grand Canyon Trust, as well as the international arm of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai’s Green Belt Movement. His pioneering policies and land acquisitions helped define much of the land trust movement that has flourished over the past three decades. Among numerous awards, Mr. Johnson received the 2009 Armory Pugsley Medal for outstanding promotion and development of public parks in the United States. He has also received honorary doctorate degrees from Dominican University and Utah State University, where he completed his Masters degree in biology.

Mr. Johnson received the United Nations Sasakawa Environment Prize in 2001, capping five decades of success building political coalitions to achieve substantive policy change. An active sportsman in his late 70’s, Mr. Johnson has two grown children and two grandchildren and lives with his wife Susan near San Francisco, CA.

Watch the recording of the CA Resources Secretary Speaker Series Event – Remembering Huey from Sept 16, 2020

Watch the recording of the Live Stream Memorial Service in Remembrance of Huey Johnson from August 14, 2020