SANTA FE - People might not single out John Horning as executive director of Forest Guardians.
In short pants, sandals and untucked shirt, the 35-year-old Horning looks more like a laid-back English lit major than the passionate and committed point man for an aggressive environmental organization.
Although he has been with Forest Guardians for about eight years, Horning is barely into his role as boss of the group that in 13 years has grown from local upstart to major player in the environmental politics of the Southwest.
"You're not going to get rich doing environmental advocacy," he said. "But at least we're shorts and T-shirt friendly.
Forest Guardians had been founded in Santa Fe by Sam Hitt in 1989 to block a plan to log Elk Mountain near Las Vegas, N.M.
In its quest to save the environment, it has been a bur under the saddles of ranching, logging, mining, municipal, oil and gas and even small-farming interests.
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According to Forest Guardians' 2001 annual report, its efforts last year led to protection of more than 100 miles of streams on national forest and Bureau of Land Management lands, and lawsuits by the group prodded the Forest Service into terminating grazing on 200,000 acres of forest land.
Forest Guardians' campaign puts it squarely against agricultural interests which have been pulling water from rivers for hundreds of years, and municipal interests that are becoming more dependent on river water.
For Horning, it's not a question of choosing farmlands over condos or vice versa.
"You can choose to have neither," he said. "Flood-irrigated alfalfa is damaging to the river, but so is flood-plain development. In my opinion, they are both unacceptable."
Horning believes Forest Guardians' goals serve the broader public good because human health is linked to healthy ecosystems.
"I think the sad thing about the Forest Guardians and those other litigation-minded environmental groups is that they have duped their donors into believing they are doing something for endangered species and the habitat, and their only product is lawsuits," San Acacia farmer Corky Herkenhoff said.
"I think they are driven by how much money they can stick in their pockets," he said.
According to Forest Guardians' annual report, total income in 2001 was $352,112.96 and total expenses were 395,792.82, for a net loss of $43,679.86.
