Henley-Led Walden Woods Project On Course To Goal
Author: Paul Verna
Publication: Billboard
Date: December 28, 1996
Abstract: Henley discusses his pet charity, the Walden Woods Project.
Having collected approximately $15 million through benefit concerts, record sales, and other efforts, the Walden Woods Project is continuing its mission to raise funds for the environmental initiative and focusing on completing the Thoreau Institute Research Center, a multimedia complex that will house the world's most comprehensive Henry David Thoreau library. The Walden Woods Project was launched by Eagles front man Don Henley in the spring of 1990 in an effort to oppose the commercial development of land around the famed Walden Pond in Concord and Lexington, Mass., a favorite destination of Thoreau and the subject of some of his best-known writings.
Beyond the funds raised, the project's greatest accomplishment so far has been to increase awareness of environmental causes, according to Henley. He says, "We have preserved the integrity of one of the most historically significant locations in North America. Walden Woods is widely recognized as the cradle of the American environmental movement, and Henry David Thoreau is recognized as the father of that movement. I was appalled when I first heard that the place was in danger. You assume that these places are protected."
The project's first acquisition, in 1990, was a 25-acre site known as Bear Garden Hill, which was owned by a local developer who planned to construct a 139-unit condominium there. In 1992, the Walden Woods Project acquired another tract of land from the same developer that was slated to be subdivided or commercially developed. In 1993, the Walden Woods Project acquired an 18.6-acre plot known as Brister's Hill, which real-estate mogul Mortimer Zuckerman's Boston Properties planned to develop into a 147,000-square-foot office complex. The following year, the Walden Woods Project scored a major victory when the residents of Concord voted to close a landfill situated across from Brister's Hill.
Later in 1994, Henley's group purchased land that encompasses Jacob Baker's farm, a locale frequented by Thoreau and mentioned prominently in his "Journal." Among Jacob Farm's features is the Adams House, an English Manor building that will soon house part of the Thoreau Research Institute, which was begun in October 1995. Late last year, the project purchased another site in Walden Woods for $900,000, bringing the total parcels of preserved land to 96 acres.
Walden Woods Project executive director Kathi Anderson says, "Of the 2,680 acres that comprise Walden Woods, close to 70% is protected. Of the remaining 30% that is not protected, half or less than half is truly vulnerable. So about 15% is land that could perhaps be subdivided, or its integrity could otherwise be compromised." Anderson adds that Walden Pond itself is owned and protected by the State Department of Environmental Management. "Of the 15% of Walden Woods that we consider vulnerable, we would never have the financial resources to buy all that land," says Anderson, a former aide to Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who spearheaded efforts to oppose development of Walden Woods in the late '80s. "It costs $ 200,000-$ 400,000 an acre for land in Concord and Lexington."
Henley credits the arts and entertainment community for supporting the cause, particularly the other members of the Eagles, who donated part of the proceeds from their six-times-platinum reunion album and tour, "Hell Freezes Over," to the Walden cause. He also credits Melissa Etheridge, Elton John, Sting, Aerosmith, and Jimmy Buffett, who took part in concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York and Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts that raised more than $ 3 million for Walden; country stars Trisha Yearwood, Clint Black, Vince Gill, and others who participated in the 1993 triple-platinum album "Common Thread: The Songs Of The Eagles," which raised funds for the project; and other supporters, such as Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt, and Bob Seger. Henley also acknowledges his manager, industry veteran Irving Azoff; actors Ted Danson, Jack Nicholson, and Ed Begley Jr. (Begley is an officer of the Walden Woods Project); and author E.L. Doctorow for supporting the cause. "The list is long, and I'm leaving people out, but I'm very grateful," he says. "As far as executives are concerned, most of the record companies have been very generous and forthcoming when we've had fund-raising dinners."
Another major supporter has been Sen. Kennedy. Anderson says her former boss helped the Walden Woods Project secure a $ 575,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant to help finance construction of the Research Institute. "At a time when the NEH funding cutbacks were severe, we received a grant as a first-time applicant, which was very helpful," she says.
For all the goodwill Henley and Anderson have engendered in their campaign to preserve Walden Woods, they have also encountered their share of criticism. In 1993, an Associated Press article accused Henley of directing funds intended for the Walden Woods Project toward other charities. Henley denies that allegation, stating that all monies raised for Walden through his nonprofit foundation, the Isis Fund, have gone toward Walden and nothing else. He explains, "I also raise money for related causes, such as any land-preservation efforts across the U.S.; [i.e.], various initiatives that would ban clear cutting in Maine and Texas. But a great majority of the money goes to the Walden Woods Project, because that's the way we solicit the money. If people give us permission, or if funds are directed just to the Isis Fund to do with as we please, then we use that money, or money that I raise personally, [for] other things."
Henley also takes issue with an April 18, 1996, Rolling Stone article that questioned his motivation for getting involved with Walden. "I've not done it for self-aggrandizement--I've had enough of that in my career," he says. "And I've certainly not done it to enhance my career, because it has not enhanced my career. In fact, it has kept me out of the recording studio during a time when I should have been in the recording studio. My last solo album came out in 1989, and I've not made a solo album since then, largely because I've been working on the Walden Woods Project and other environmental projects. So when people accuse me of trying to further my career this way, I can only laugh and shake my head."
Henley adds, "I've done this for two reasons. One, because Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thoreau had such an impact on me as a young man, when my father was dying and I was trying to figure out what life and death meant and struggling to make sense of my life and become a songwriter. And two, because I've been very successful and fortunate in my career, and I do not want my life and career to be defined only in terms of taking. I want it to be said that I gave as good as I got, which I think is a duty of every individual."
Both Henley and Anderson acknowledge that the project has a limited scope. "We will never be able to buy the entirety of Walden Woods and bring the whole thing together, because there are private homes in there, but what we can do is buy large, valuable tracts of land as they come on the market," says Henley. Nevertheless, Henley is undeterred. He says, "There's no way I will not finish what I started. And this is going to be a great resource for people. It's something that is sorely needed in these times."
Among the project's greatest obstacles is securing an endowment for the Research Institute. Henley says he is solidifying plans to line up fund-raising events in the first half of 1997 to raise up to $ 10 million for the endowment. "If I have to go and do a couple of tours myself, I will. I'll get this done one way or the other," he says. In addition to the endowment for the Research Institute, the Walden Woods Project is trying to raise funds to preserve the Adams House, originally intended to house the center itself but later deemed too small and fragile to encompass a large multimedia facility. Once the house is restored, it will function as the Thoreau Institute's administrative center and as a guest house for visiting scholars.
"We plan, in one of those modern paradoxes, to use modern technology to disseminate information with a new method called distance learning, where you can project things right into the classroom," says Henley. "And I see the irony in that, when Thoreau's philosophy was to simplify. Nevertheless . . . we need to use every modern means of dissemination at our disposal, because it's the message that's important."
Henley says he is weighing proposals from various corporations to set up the institute's computer facilities. Although Henley says he is growing weary of asking his friends in the music business to contribute toward the preservation of Walden Woods, he and the other Eagles will probably perform a concert or tour on behalf of the project. "We're discussing all our options," he says. Henley has just started work on a solo album with longtime collaborators Danny Kortchmar, Stan Lynch, and engineer Rob Jacobs.
The Walden Woods Project can be reached at 800-554-3569. Its E-mail address is waldenwds@aol.com.
