Robert Redford began his acting career in 1960 and has become a highly acclaimed actor, producer, and director, but there is another side to him. He has also been a long time conservationist and environmentalist. It is believed that his love of nature came when he took a trip to Yosemite National Park at age 11 after fending off a mild case of polio.
Redford purchased land near Wasatch Mountain in Utah and named it Sundance Village. The community is dedicated to environmental conservation and each year, hosts the famed Sundance Film Festival, which often features green documentaries and hosts green projects.
For almost 30 years, Redford has served as a trustee for the Natural Resources Defense Council. He is the founder of the Institute for Resource Management (IRM), a foundation which focuses on environmental issues such as electric power, off-shore oil leasing, global warming, and urban air quality. He joined the Advisory Board of the Reebok Human Rights Foundation in 2002 and became a board member of The Gaylord A. Nelson Environmental Endowment at the Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin. He is a part of the National Council of National Museum of the American Indian and has also served on the board of the Navajo Education and Scholarship Foundation.
He has been actively involved in environmental legislation as far back as 1974 when he supported the Clear Air Act. He helped stop the building of a coal-fired power plant near five national parks in Utah in 1975. He helped save that same section of land again in 1997 from commercial exploitation.
He has combined his love of acting with his love of the environment. In 1979, he produced The Solar Film, a short about solar energy that received an Academy Award nomination. In 1989, he produced Yosemite: The Fate of Heaven. He produced Incident at Oglala in 1992, a documentary about a 1975 incident between FBI agents and a group of Native Americans.
Over the years, Redford has received numerous awards for his efforts. He won the 1989 Audubon Medal Award, the 1987 United Nations Global 500 Award, the 1993 Earth Day 5 International Award, the 1994 Nature Conservancy Award, the 2001 Freedom in Film Award, and the 2004 Forces of Nature Lifetime Achievement Award. He created the Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists, which is awarded to those that not only show great quality and skill in their cinematic work, but also have a commitment to social responsibility and awareness.
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