[00:00:00] Michael: Hi, I'm Michael Hawk and welcome to nature's archive podcast, where I interview some of the most interesting and creative people on the forefront of conservation, ecology, bird, and environmental education. If you have a fascination with the natural world, this podcast is for you. My promise to you is that you'll not only learn what my guests have accomplished, but also how and why.
[00:00:19] And I also promise that you'll learn plenty of fascinating things about the nature that surrounds us. So give it a listen. And if you truly care about the environment and enjoyed what you heard, please take a moment to subscribe, leave feedback on apple podcasts or your favorite service, and share this episode with a friend.
[00:00:33] Thank you.
[00:00:36] I guest today is John Griffith or better known as Griff. Griff is a natural and cultural resources interpreter for California state parks and host of the animal planet show wild jobs. Prior to that, Griff was a longtime crew supervisor in the California conservation core where he and his crew restored habitat throughout Northern California.
[00:00:55] Griff's love of nature and infectious personality. Make him a natural. He immerses himself in his projects and the parks that he supports, learning the ecology and history, and also encouraging diversity in his programs. You have to check out some of his Facebook live weekly videos from Humboldt, Redwood state park to see how charismatic and on point his videos are Griff joined us today from location, some of the last remaining intact old growth Redwood forest.
[00:01:18] So please forgive the occasional bit of wind noise. I promise it's barely noticeable and note that while he works for California state parks, in this episode, he's off duty, not representing the state parks in our wide ranging conversation today, we discuss what's so magical about the old growth Redwood to California.
[00:01:35] If you haven't seen these trees in habitat before, just think about star wars return to the Jedi. The scenes from the forest moon indoor were filmed in that area. It's amazing. Our discussion of giant trees takes a surprising turn to prairies. Yes, there are actually very productive prairies in the redwoods.
[00:01:51] Griff tells us about a few as well as an exciting elk encounter he had on one of them. And thankfully we can laugh about it now. And of course, we spend a lot of time talking about Griff's approach to creating, engaging conservation content, including specific approaches that you and I can use. We get into some details about Griff's animal planet show wild jobs, which is a lot of fun to watch and really highly recommended.
[00:02:11] And if all that's not enough, we also discuss Griff's recent appearance on the Kelly Clarkson show. And we wrap up discussing the importance of treating our properties like habitat. And in typical Grif style, he makes this point in a unique and entertaining way. If you haven't seen or heard Griff before, I promise you that you'll walk away from this interview, a fan, be sure to check out his Facebook page and his YouTube channel.
[00:02:31] And of course I have all those links in the show notes. So without further delay Griff. All right, Griff, thank you so much for joining me
[00:02:38] Griff: today. Thank you. Hello everybody from the Redwood.
[00:02:43] Michael: I wish everybody could see what I see right now because your office is actually like you, it looks like there's a fall on Redwood, right behind you and ferns and you know, all sorts of great scenery right
[00:02:53] Griff: around you.
[00:02:54] Yeah, I'm I'm in the remaining 5% of old growth Redwood forest, coastal Redwood. So the remaining like 4.6% of old growth that's left and I'm standing in the biggest, intact, old growth Redwood forest in the world, Rockefeller forest, which extends up avenue of the giants. And it's one big contiguous old growth Redwood forest.
[00:03:15] And it's such a blessing to be here.
[00:03:17] Michael: I suspect a lot of my listeners have never had the opportunity to see an old growth Redwood forest or even any Redwood forest. So can you just describe a little bit about what it's like and what makes it so special?
[00:03:31] Griff: You know, you think that since I'm a cultural and natural resource interpreter, that I'd have a billion go-to answers, but you know, it's, it's really weird, like to describe something that you love so much to someone else, you, you know, you become super critical of yourself.
[00:03:47] Like you just can't do a good enough job. So it's like so hard for me to describe this place. And also because everyone has a. Perspective. And I hear a lot of them because of my job and where I live. So I just will, I'll just say like ecologically, this place has the most biomass of anywhere else on the planet.
[00:04:05] And, um, living in dead organic material, way more than the Amazon, like eight times more than the Amazon. And most of that is in huge giant Redwood trees. And so around me are trees from, you know, that are one year old, all the way up to 2000 plus. And some of them are huge, have huge diameters, you know, up to 20 feet in extreme big ones.
[00:04:27] And, and many of them are over 300 feet tall and this like really filters out the light. And so the plants that exist, um, along the, the forest floor here are all very, very good at photosynthesizing. And a lot of them are mosses and ferns and Redwood SOEL and or SORL and, um, just incredibly beautiful.
[00:04:48] There is. Thick Duff, like leaves all over the ground and trees that fell 500, 600, 700 years ago in various states of decay with plants growing on top of them. It's just incredible. Yeah.
[00:05:01] Michael: I like to describe it to people like who've seen the star wars movies, the forest moon of indoor. I think it was actually filmed up in old growth Redwood forest.
[00:05:10] Griff: Oh yeah. That's sort of what it's like. I'm a couple miles from the speed cha scene with the, where the speed cha scene was filmed.
[00:05:16] Michael: Yeah. That's amazing. And you know, when people hear that those are actually real trees, that those things really exist. It's, it's just such
[00:05:23] Griff: an eye opener. yeah. I heard that where the actual village site was, and I need to follow up on this.
[00:05:28] Cause I just heard this, I heard that the original indoor was actually on private property, even though they filmed a lot of it on state parks property and that indoor has been logged. So I'm gonna look into that and see if that's true, because that would be an interesting conversation. Look, indoor has been clear.
[00:05:43] Cut. Yeah, I'm gonna follow up on that. If anybody else knows anything about that, like, it'd be cool to hear from you, but I probably know the answer by the time this podcast comes up.
[00:05:51] Michael: Well, if you find out, let me know and I'll add something in or at least put it in the show notes. Okay, cool. Yeah. One thing that I actually had the opportunity to camp up in one of the state parks, uh, in the redwoods it's van dam, state park.
[00:06:04] Oh yeah. I don't think there's much. Uh, I don't think that any of that's old growth. So it got me wondering, like when does a Redwood forest transition from second growth to old growth? Like, is there an age or is it more about the habitat?
[00:06:18] Griff: Well, you know, it depends on who you ask because. The answer has changed so many times.
[00:06:25] And one of the reasons why it's changed so many times is because we've, we're still understanding the forest. And a lot of people are like, we are. Yeah, well, we're we just discovered a new type of flying squirrel here, like three years ago. And we are just starting to understand the, the human cause changes that have happened to redwoods.
[00:06:43] So like, you know, there's a book called before the wilderness, which is about California because before Europeans invaded colonized this area, um, there really was no, no wilderness humans managed or they don't indigenous people didn't call it management, of course. But they, they interacted with their relatives is how they would see it and they use fire.
[00:07:02] And so there used to be a lot more frequent fires in old growth forest. So to me, if you have an old forest, but you have taken the fire return in Avol way where it used to have fires set by people like every eight, 20 years, and now it has, it burnt 150 years. Is it still old growth? , you know, it's it. So to me, like a lot of the ways in California that we relate to forests and old growth forests, we have to consider the human history to it because, um, old growth forests used to have a lot more characteristics by fire.
[00:07:33] So like hollowed out trees from fire, which takes several fires to make a goose pantry and those kinds of things that happened because of the frequency of burnt. And that's what we see as old growth forest. And then we say, well, old growth forest has never been manipulated by quote unquote man. And that's BS.
[00:07:48] It all has. It all has. And so the last 150 years, whatever, we didn't cut down as American colonists sentence of. We call that old growth, but it hasn't had the same relationship with humans that it used to have. So one definition is, sorry, this is like a long way to tell answer. This question is that it's never been logged before.
[00:08:06] And I would say a pristine, old growth forest is a forest that has ha never been logged, but has been treated, I guess you'd say the way it was previous to European colonization of California.
[00:08:19] Michael: Well, I think it's, I mean, it's great that you go into the detail because everything has nuance and you know, the more I've learned about ecology and nature, I find out that there's never one answer to anything because mm-hmm, , there's, there's a history, there's, uh, something unique to the specific location, you know?
[00:08:35] So there's never one solution or one answer. So please, you know, go into depth as we're talking today.
[00:08:40] Griff: Yeah. I would just say that the common accepted is old growth forest is that it's never been logged or heavily grazed. I would add that a functioning awesome old growth forest is one that is still.
[00:08:52] Managed in with, in, in indigenous Lifeways.
[00:08:55] Michael: Yeah, one thing that got me thinking, I actually heard an interview with you from, uh, oh, I forget where, but you mentioned that you really enjoy Redwood prairies and yes. Bringing up the fact that the indigenous people used to burn, you know, every eight to 20 years, I'm guessing that helped sustain the prairies.
[00:09:13] Oh yeah. So is this something that current land stewards are continuing or are Redwood prairies endangered? Because we aren't letting them burn
[00:09:24] Griff: grasslands in California are one of the most, one of the most impacted ecosystems in the world. We have lost the vast majority of our grasslands already. And I think, I think it's the, uh, California grasslands association said it's like 80% of grasslands are gone and are the ones that are exist.
[00:09:41] Only 1% are considered. Still containing their native assemblages. So that all needs to be double checked because it's been a while since I heard their statistics, but grasslands are, are gone and, and, and for many reasons, but one of the main reasons up here coastal grasslands are gone is because of encroachment of Woody plants and, and in particular Douglas fur.
[00:09:59] And it's not just taking out the grasslands, it's also taking out the Oak Woodlands. And this is a very, very productive, very productive ecosystem. People look at grasslands and don't think it's biodiverse, but like 40% of California's native plant diversity is in grasslands and grasslands are not 40% of California.
[00:10:15] So it shows you how important they are. And in the coastal area, you can really see that when you come out of redwoods, redwoods, aren't super biodiverse like on a macro level. There's a lot of little things, but there's not a lot of different types of birds and plants in an old growth rabbit forest. But soon as you get into the eco tones where it starts turning into a, a, you know, mixed conifer and then a Oak Woodlands, and then a grassland, there is tons of biodiversity and we are losing these very fast.
[00:10:40] And another crazy thing about. Like losing these prairies, why it's such terrible, uh, management on our part is because the dug firs drink a lot more water and we're having all this drought in this area and we're blaming, you know, different types of human caused water diversions, which is true. There's tons of those pot growers and PG E you know, water diversion outta I river, but also just us letting Doug first spread across the landscape.
[00:11:06] And, and in particular, these prairies and, and, and closing out these prairies has to cause a major uptake in water. And, um, that's not helping the drought and, and our endangered fish cause salmon and still hit our endangered in this watershed. And it's not helping at all. So we really need to reestablish our grasslands and have a burn regime on them because that's how the native people still maintain their grasslands.
[00:11:29] And so we really need to incorporate, uh, their teachings. We need them to teach us how to take care of our grasslands and that's happening. I'm super happy to report that that is happening.
[00:11:40] Michael: That's super cool. And by the time we publish this episode, another episode, uh, that I recorded with a fellow, uh, Chris Helser, he's known as the Prairie ecologist will have also been published.
[00:11:51] And yeah, we get a little bit more into even, you know, out on the planes. Fire is a integral part of maintaining prairies to withhold that encroachment from the Woody
[00:12:02] Griff: plants. Yeah. And so I really want, and thank you for asking that question. I hope a lot of people tune into his interview because prairies are awesome.
[00:12:10] They're incredible. They're biodiverse. They sequester lots of carbon. They give a lot of animals that you won't see in other places on the landscape, but you will see in grassland, especially Oak Woodland, Savannahs, just incredible wildlife. A lot of those things are endemic to California, meaning the only grow in California.
[00:12:25] So any support we can get for prairies, let's do it. Cause it's a, it's a worthy cause.
[00:12:30] Michael: I have to say, I didn't think we were gonna divert into talking about prairies with, you know, giant redwoods all around you. Right. But where would someone, if they're lucky enough to be in California, go to find a, a nice Redwood Prairie these days.
[00:12:43] Are there any that are open to the public?
[00:12:45] Griff: Oh yeah. There's several in California state and national parks. Probably the most epic one is bald Hills area where fire ecologists have been reintroducing fire for years and years and years, decades, and taking out, cutting out Doug first. And there's a really cool program between California state parks and say the Redwood league to, um, reestablish, uh, healthy forest and expedite old growth conditions around the Oak Woodlands and grasslands.
[00:13:11] And then in the Oak Woodlands and grasslands, California conservation core has been, you know, partnering with Redwood national parks for years to remove Doug fur and, um, reintroduce fire. So it's really exciting up there. We have a bunch of small ones in the Southern parks, so like in Humboldt, Redwood state park, If you go down the toll road, which goes through the Rockefeller forest, which is the most epic road, probably on the planet, because you're, it's like barely a, it's like a one and a half lane road that takes you through an old growth forest, winding wrapping around huge, massive trees.
[00:13:42] And then you come out and you look in the Hills around and there's prairies up there and you can take various trails up to the prairies. And then you have like an epic view. And plus you see lots of flowers and birds and, you know, acorn, woodpeckers, like really cool birds that run around at packs and it gains and stuff.
[00:13:56] And so it's really cool to go check 'em
[00:13:58] Michael: out. So can you tell me about what sort of wildlife encounters you have in the redwoods or at the Redwood prairies that stand out to you? I'm sure that with as much time as you spent outdoors in your career, that there have been some very interesting ones
[00:14:14] Griff: and probably 60% of them involved elk Roosevelt, elk, and, um, some in the sinkin wilderness, which has some great prairies by the way, um, coastal prairies and some in.
[00:14:25] Prairie Creek Redwood state park. So in my twenties, I was on a trail crew for Redwood state national parks all up and down the north coast district. And I lived in on the border of elk Prairie, which is this very, very epic Prairie that almost everybody sees when you come up here because you drive down Newton beach, drew drive, which is one of a very epic drive up north.
[00:14:50] And you go through this huge Prairie and there's very often herds of elk out there. And elk were almost, we have two types of elk in California and they're almost completely wiped out. They got to very small populations. And then now we've been reintroducing them into prairies up and down California, and they're really coming back.
[00:15:07] So it's really cool. It's a great rewilding story, but a lot of times people don't understand. There's certain times a year. You just don't wanna mess with the elk. And that's when they have babies. And that's when they're in rut. And one day, you know, my house set right on the side of elk Prairie. And one day I saw this teenager jumped Parker, his car, jump the fence and run out to a field.
[00:15:28] And I saw this huge bull elk who I had been watching for a long time. Cuz he had been beaten everybody else up. Cause that's how it happens in the elk world. He was like the king. I named him after one of my favorite historical characters to come see. And I would give everybody to come see update what this bull elk was doing.
[00:15:44] And I was young. I was really young at the time. And so I did stupid things like I'd, Beeld back at him and, and got his attention sometimes and just, you know, dumb stuff like that, but not so dumb as this teenager, who's running out in the field towards to come see. And so to come see like bugled and started after him.
[00:15:59] And I was like, oh no. So I ran without thinking to intercept. And so as I'm running to ICEP. He turns around, sees me, starts coming towards me. And I ran all the way to my house. And he was right behind me. When I walked through, when I busted through my door and his antlers wouldn't let him inside. And then he did this really odd thing where he like, how should I say this?
[00:16:21] It's inappropriate. He like, I could see his penis go back and forth really fast. And he like anointed my porch with a huge puddle of whatever that was. And, um, and I was like, oh, gross. And so I went out to backdoor and I went and told the, uh, interpretive ranger, next thing I know. He was like, yeah, I saw the whole thing.
[00:16:44] And so next thing I know, he starts diverting his walk of people to come look at what happened to my porch. And it was this ridiculous and funny and, um, a good lesson for everybody not to cross the fence and go into the, the, uh, field with tecums see. And you know what, tecums see, lost a fight two weeks later.
[00:16:58] And as I got popped, And I didn't see him again for a long time. And then during the winter I saw him without his handlers and I could tell it was him cause his eye was missing and he just looks like a, a dying version of his one's glorious self. It's kind of a sad story, but there's that one. And then another time I had a California conservation crew and I were, were trapped between two six pack trucks, big trucks as these two bulls fought around us.
[00:17:21] And there was a herd of elk and it was like so epic and a lot of these core members were from urban areas. And so they were like this like national geographic. This is like, you know, animal planet. And I'm like, and I'm just like hoping that none of us got killed, but it was a really cool experience too.
[00:17:34] So elk has been a big, a big part of my life as far as wildlife experiences, cuz I've always been in the coast and coastal prairies and that's where they hang.
[00:17:42] Michael: Well, that's just a crazy visual seeing you running, getting through your door and like, it sounds like you didn't even get a chance to shut the door.
[00:17:50] It's just because no, his antlers were so broad that he couldn't get in.
[00:17:54] Griff: He could not get in. Yeah. And I was like, thank God. You know,
[00:17:58] Michael: if he had known to turn his head to the side, he may have been able to to fit through the,
[00:18:02] Griff: he was so pissed at me. It was weird because like, I, I, we usually don't have a lot of problems with rut elk charging at people.
[00:18:08] It's usually the females that have babies that cause most the problem. And I've had tons of run-ins with them too. But I want tell all the elk stories today, but usually, you know, even when they're in rut, they're, you know, I haven't had that much problem with the bull Elks. You know, I've gotten really close, not on purpose, but you know, got really close to them and their herds and they never bothered me.
[00:18:25] But I think it might have been because I had been antagonizing this particular one for so long. Maybe. I don't know.
[00:18:31] Michael: yeah. It all goes back to you bugling back to it, I think. Yeah, maybe. So there's a whole bunch of things I want to talk to you about today and. maybe backing up a little bit. I first learned about you.
[00:18:44] I, I don't, I don't recall for sure if it was from your Facebook lives at Humboldt, Redwood state park, and you know, so I, I looked into you because I could tell that you were really great at communicating to the public through these Facebook live videos. Thank you. And, uh, and I said, well, you work for state parks.
[00:19:01] So I I'm curious what a typical week in your day job is like.
[00:19:06] Griff: Yeah. So I'm gonna answer that, but I'm gonna tell everybody I'm off work today and I am not representing state park in any way, shape or form, but I can talk about the job from a career aspect because it's very similar to what I've been doing all my life as a, uh, interpreter, a cultural, natural resource interpreter.
[00:19:20] And that's my title with state parks. And that's been my title before in various capacities for different organizations. So, you know, COVID year has really changed things. And so the boss I'm working for Mar Robins, he has really, really good. Intuitions about interpretation and, and, and how to, how to engage people.
[00:19:38] So they become conservationists or at least appreciators of the park. And so you had to start doing Facebook lives. And, you know, I had been doing Facebook lives for years already. You know, I had a, a viral, a dance video of Migo viral. And, um, I didn't know anything about social media at that point or the power of it.
[00:19:54] This is like 2012, 13. And so when I saw that people like watching me dance, that's another story. But I was like, well, I don't wanna be the fat cowboy dancer. I wanna be the conservationist who has a conservation message. So I use the dancing platform to start making conservation videos and it caught a lot of notice.
[00:20:13] And that's one of the amazing things about being alive today is if I was trying to do this without social media, I was trying to help people understand and get curious about nature. Try to get them to become informed and empathetic and take compassionate action for wildlife. To reach as many people as I'm reaching, I'd have to tour the country constantly, but because of social media, I'm able to get these messages out sooner and quicker into a vast, huge audience.
[00:20:40] And I feel really grateful about that. So I, I was a leadite and did not like technology and that is changing rapidly today. And so the Facebook lives that I've done for my personal pages or for the CCC or for different organizations in state parks have reached millions of. And a lot of them have gotten back to me and said stuff like because of your video, I planted native plants, or because of your video, I stopped feeding the possums or I built a patio for my cat or, and so I start thinking about that in terms of every time someone gets back to me with something like that, I think about it in terms of saved wildlife or, you know, or adding more insects to the, the terrestrial plankton that they are, you know, and feeding birds and stuff and sex like terrestrial, plankton.
[00:21:22] And every time I can get people to plant native plants or, you know, support compassionate actions for wildlife it's it's, it makes me feel so good. And so I get to feel good a lot. Thanks to social media. The
[00:21:34] Michael: power is social media. I, you showed up somehow on my backyard, wildlife Facebook group at one point.
[00:21:40] And I don't know if you found us or, or somebody invited you or what exactly happened. And just to demonst. How this sort of the tentacles of social media work, somebody, somebody else who was on that group then shared one of your videos to the open space authority. That's in my local area. And I, I saw that on Facebook and I saw that there were like 14 additional shares of that one video.
[00:22:05] So, um, it just shows the, as you said, the power of social media
[00:22:09] to
[00:22:09] Griff: reach people. Yeah. And also like understanding that the world has changed in lots of ways and is changing rapidly, um, as we speak. And so like conservation messages and messaging also has to change. And I feel like me and my team in state parks and as well, some friends that aren't in state parks that are, you know, delivering conservation messages have stepped up to this new way of delivering conservation messages where they're not doom and gloom where there's like something you can do and where the messages are also shorter.
[00:22:42] So they're like. And more engaging everybody who's under 35 has pretty much grown up watching lots and lots of videos. And so the days of the wooden stage on the stage, you know, the power of the government or, you know, national wildlife Federation or national geographic behind him or her those days are over people.
[00:22:57] Aren't really interested in that anymore. You know, our attention spans are too short, so you gotta like dance or be crazy or something to get people to stick around long enough to learn how they can help wildlife. And that's just the reality of today.
[00:23:11] Michael: So being hopeful in that, assuming that things will start to get back to pre COVID norms.
[00:23:17] Do, do you expect to have sort of a different ratio of in, in person versus virtual engagement? Not quite sure what the, what the proper term would be for that, but I'm, I'm guessing some of this change is gonna stick.
[00:23:31] Griff: Yes. We are not going to lose. Some people think that we're gonna lose our online audience.
[00:23:36] We are not because the people that we reach. By and large with our online presence was people who wouldn't be able to make it here anyways, you know, for whatever reason, you know, usually it's financial. So we've got a audience that wishes they could come, and this is the next best thing. And you know, a lot of this, this place is so incredibly cathedral like that.
[00:23:57] Even through video camera, you can get, you can sense how it feels to be here. And also we're already seeing way more visitors to our park. Um, all these parks than we did pre COVID people can't wait to go outside. And so we're already seeing lot more people in the parks up here, you know, state national county, city parks.
[00:24:17] And so I think that there's just one of the blessings of COVID was there's a uptick and interest of the outdoors. And I'm certain that our online audience is gonna continue to grow. And I think that visitation to parks is going to continue to grow.
[00:24:35] Michael: So I do wanna ask you about those Facebook live videos, because what really struck me was how natural and simultaneously well prepared they come across like as a viewer.
[00:24:46] And I know a lot of it's your personality. You're just very good at this, but I'm wondering if you can tell me a little bit about how you prepare for those videos. I'd like to understand what it takes to deliver such a clean and engaging
[00:24:56] Griff: message like that. You know, there are some recipes and formulas that I can share that would be helpful.
[00:25:04] But for me, a lot of it is that I'm a zealot. I've been interested in wildlife conservation. Since my grandmother introduced me to a toad in the middle of her mobile home park when I was three or four years old, and I have dedicated my life to wildlife conservation and I am so concerned about biodiversity loss and I have empathy for all animals, uh, all wild animals, mainly and wildlife and, and I wanna protect habitat.
[00:25:31] And so I'm willing to. Do whatever I need to do to present a message to people that's accessible. And I want them to look at me and go, I'm just as smart, if not smarter than this guy. So I could be a nature lover and a wildlife conservationist too. Like, I don't want anything about me to get in the way of people becoming curious about nature, becoming informed and empathetic and taking compassionate action.
[00:25:57] And so I give people what they want and people wanna be EDTA. You know, the, the era of preachiness is over. I don't wanna depress people. When, when someone depresses you don't come back. If you have a friend that every time you go to the house and they're like, oh, and then this terrible thing happened.
[00:26:11] You're concerned for a while. But after, after 10 of those visits, you're like, I gotta protect myself from this negative fast friend, excuse my language. But you, you know, so like, I don't wanna do that to people. There is good things happening. There are hopeful things happening and there are things you can do.
[00:26:27] You don't have to feel powerless. You don't have to give up. There are some really powerful, very, very easy and entertaining things you can do to help nature. And that's what I'm focusing on. I want people to see me as very accessible regular kind of person that can come over my house, have a beard tea with and, and hear how they can help save wildlife.
[00:26:49] So I think that the first thing that someone needs to do, if they're, and I think everybody should want to do Facebook lives about nature. I think all you, and so, because we need everybody and, and the more, the better, and the more reposition the better, but one of the things is to do is like, talk about what you're passionate about and then talk about what's either what you're passionate about, or what's really relevant to the time I call it trend jacking.
[00:27:12] So some of my most popular video. Or because it was a, I, I talked about mountain lions when that guy, uh, Kyle Burk, who I got to talk to for a long time, he is really cool when he got chased away from that mother mountain lion. And that video got way over 500,000 views. And then I talked about fire ecology when California was on fire.
[00:27:29] So that's called trend jacking. So one thing that people you, you gotta do is like when people are interested in a subject, that's a great time to talk about it. So when people are interested in a wildlife subject, so maybe there's a condo story, or maybe there's a local native plant story or whatever, you should jump on that and join that momentum and make sure that it really gets out there and syncs in with people.
[00:27:48] That's one, um, also like, you know, talking about what you're passionate about, don't talk about something just because it's cool. Make sure that you love it. And if you don't love it, then learn more about it. Chances. Once you learn more about it, you'll start to love it. And that's kind how it works. You know, like, you know, when you say, if you've ever sat on a jury before and you hear this guy did some terrible thing, he beat someone up and you're like, he's a bad guy.
[00:28:08] I can't wait to see him go to jail. And then you hear his story about how he's trying to get his daughter some shoes so that she could go to school and blah, blah, blah, all sudden he doesn't seem like such a bad guy anymore. He just seems like a desperate person trying to survive and you feel empathy towards him.
[00:28:21] And that's how it is in nature. Like if you really wanna speak for something, you should get to know it and become informed. And then, and then you'll get familiar and you'll become empathetic. And then you need to think about what compassionate action can you do to stoke this, whatever you're trying to protect.
[00:28:39] Michael: So, yeah, I think it has to come from care and from passion and my own journey has been that yes, the more I learn about something, then the more that, that care and passion grows as well. So it becomes sort of a cyclical process. Mm-hmm do you actually practice your videos first or do you just like, you have your idea and you go out there and you wing.
[00:28:59] Griff: A little, both. And I just wanna say before I, I, before I totally answer that question, you know, getting your Myers, Briggs personality type done and looking at what your personality type is, and then speaking from there, you know, it's generalization, but it's pretty accurate. My, if you look up E F P the campaigner, like that's me, they, you could just write John Griffith on it and just Griff and, and you would know who I am.
[00:29:20] I, I would like to think I'm more unique, but they pegged me in that like super broad personality, uh, description. But I feel like there's a lot of people who don't resonate with my style. And so, like, I want people to know that even if you're not super animated and passionate, you still have a place in this because there's a lot of people who want the facts and figures and statistics, and one of like purely scientific, you should come and lean into that and be ready with that too.
[00:29:46] So I, I just wanna, you know, make sure that every. Feels welcome to speak out for nature because there's, there's tons of personality, types and different things resonate with them. So now back to your question, well, usually what happens is I've always, I I've been in naturalist for a long, long time, so I have a lot of stuff that I've just learned along the way that, um, and I worked with 18 to 25 year olds for almost 20 years.
[00:30:08] And Al almost none of them were really interested in nature, even though they signed up to do ecological restoration and firefighting. Most of the, most of the young people in the CCC, California conservation Corps are people who are just looking to get out of their hometowns for whatever reason.
[00:30:22] Sometimes it's because they're from distressed communities sometimes because. They just wanna get away from their parents and have some independence and they can get tons of scholarships and they get paid and they get a place to live in the CCC far away from home. And they would come out with me and I would find out what I, I, I, you know, after almost 20 years of doing this, I knew what I found out, what interests people who don't have a background in ecology.
[00:30:44] And so I know I have a long list of things that people who are not normally interested in nature would actually become interested in and how to present it. Cause I can, you know, working with these core members for years and years, I had to motivate them to wanna plant trees or motivate them to wanna do salmon habitat restoration or motivate them.
[00:31:01] Even the most difficult thing to motivate them with was like removing invasive plants, like pulling weeds, like on the beach or in the rain. And you know, hard work, low pay, miserable conditions is the CCC slogan. And it's real so I'd have to motivate them. And so it was the best training in the whole world was working with 18 to 25 year olds who.
[00:31:23] A lot of times weren't comfortable with where they're at and me trying to make them comfortable and help them feel empowered and realize that the work that we're doing was so incredibly important and they trained me to be good at it. So, so I have a lot of stuff already in my head, and I know what people are gonna trip out on.
[00:31:42] And, and like people like there's some ecological subjects that people just get really curious about and they want to, they want to hear about, and those are usually ones that have multiple connections where the story keeps continuing like pollination ecology or seed dispersal or something like that, where it's not a standalone, it's something that's connected to this and then connected to this and connected to this.
[00:32:02] And a lot of people, a lot of the old ways of teaching ecology was like survival of FITT. And that really grabs people still on TV, you know, survival of FET and comes this line. Oh my God. But I like to teach survival the most. It's more common, the survival of the fittest, I believe. And it's more interesting.
[00:32:22] Especially now that we're having the technology to unveil things like microrisal connections with plants, which is just unbelievable. And I like to talk about those things because it's almost like, yes, this is nature. This is something you thought you knew, but you saw a green blur and you have no idea.
[00:32:38] This is stranger than fiction. And so come out here and let me show you. And, and when I do, people are like, whoa, and it plants the seeds of curiosity, and then they teach themselves and they don't need
[00:32:47] Michael: me anymore. So that list that you've assembled over the years is probably worth its weight and gold.
[00:32:54] Like you should, you should go publish it. You should write
[00:32:57] Griff: a book. I've had friends have added to it too. Yeah. Other interpreters have added to it and vetted it with me. Yeah. So I, maybe I will Polish that up and put that out. So other environmental educators can, it's a good idea.
[00:33:08] Michael: Yeah. That's something that seems to me that one of the hardest things is to find people who maybe aren't interested in nature and figure.
[00:33:16] What is the hook to yeah. To help at least get them on the ladder, get them on the ladder. Yeah. So they can start climbing. I, I guess in the case of California conservation core, they were a bit of a captive audience. Yes. So, so maybe that was a little bit helpful in making that happen a lot, bit helpful.
[00:33:33] you, you actually started very young at the California conservation Corps. Maybe give a little bit of background what that is, how it works, how you got there yourself.
[00:33:42] Griff: Well, I got there because I was a really angry and rebellious teenager who dropped outta high school in 10th grade. Tried to go back for my junior year.
[00:33:53] Just didn't work. So I was too far behind in credits and stuff, and I had a drug problem. Um, my dad was a, a very, very conservative. Very religious, totally different personality type than me too. And he, his idea of security was having these guidebook and following rules. And I'm a complete opposite, you know, I'm E NFP.
[00:34:15] Like I mentioned before, I don't like rules, unless you can tell me why. And, and then, and then I can understand why the and my, that wasn't my dad's flavor. He was like, because it's my house and you have to. And so like that made me rebellious in being a, a young person, uh, and really kind of naive in some ways, my way of liberating myself was to do the opposite of what he wanted me to do, which was terrible plan.
[00:34:39] And so I, uh, ended up running away from home, being a drug addict, dropping outta high school, having some brushes with the law. And one day a friend of mine said, you know, you have. You have this really strong interest in nature and history and stuff, and it, you just need to get out of the city. I was in the bay area at the time.
[00:34:57] And so I he's like, I'm gonna join the California conservation Corps. You should come with me. And I did. And I got in there and the CCC was pretty hardcore back then it was paramilitary. So they had a bootcamp and they had some very streetwise, young supervisors who were like, you're a tweaker and you're going to NA if you wanna stay in the CCC.
[00:35:14] And so I did, and I got off drugs and I started planting trees and I loved, I loved it. I loved building trails. I loved planting trees. I loved doing habitat restoration. I loved being in the woods all the time. I loved to be camped. I wore PO terrible poison Oak rashes almost a whole entire time. And I still loved it.
[00:35:32] So because of my experience with the CCC, you know, after that, I went to college and it took. 10 years to graduate because I had these really cool seasonal jobs with the forest service or the wildlife conservation society, or the nature Conservancy where I was doing really, really cool stuff because of my experience I got into CCC.
[00:35:49] So after like 13 years of being a seasonal, um, doing everything from salmon in the classroom to bird surveys, to fish surveys, to firefighting, to trail, building, to agriculture, to even working on a fishing boat, one summer, I came back to the CCC as a supervisor because I wanted to give back to what I, what I had, but also I just wanted to be part of that magic of people, healing themselves while they're healing the earth and who better than the youth.
[00:36:13] Right. And so a lot of the stuff the California conservation core does is restoration ecological restoration. So we're healing these degraded habitats with a lot of people who need a lot of healing themselves. Like I was when I was 18. So I love that combination. I love core programs. They work and they're beautiful.
[00:36:34] They work for most people and they're beautiful. And it was very, very healing for me and started me on that's why I'm here today. I, I give the CCC credit for saving my life.
[00:36:44] Michael: That's amazing. Is it still going strong today? Is it still properly funded and, and continuing
[00:36:49] Griff: on, you know, now the California conservation core used to be state funded and it no longer is.
[00:36:53] And so a lot of the staff members are constantly chasing funding, which was just too bad because a lot of these people who are chasing funding the whole entire time should be interacting with core members more because they're brilliant people and they got promoted because they were good with core members.
[00:37:06] And now they're just chasing funding, which is really too bad, but it's the, it's the reality. It's not the cc's fault. It's something they have to do. But I would like to. It's 100% state funding for the CCC, so they could focus on the youth and, you know, already it's a miracle. They do as good as they do focusing on the youth and a lot of that's because they have partners that kind of come in and help.
[00:37:25] So that's keeping the youth development aspect going, but it could be much stronger if they all didn't have to chase money all the time, which is really unfortunate, but it is still going strong and it's still, uh, providing a wonderful service, a million different ways, including around our wildfires in California.
[00:37:39] Michael: Well, as always, I'll make sure to link to it through the show notes as well, so people can find it. And, uh, I will see if there's any like donation buttons or anything like that I can link to directly as well, so that, uh, anyone listening, if they so choose, they could seek that out. Yes.
[00:37:54] Griff: There's a lot of core programs, like 140 in the United States.
[00:37:57] And so there might be one near you county one or city one that probably use your donation even more than the California conservation core. So look local and see if you've got any local core programs. C O
[00:38:06] Michael: R P S. Great idea. Jumping ahead a little bit in more recent news, you were just on the Kelly Clarkson show for earth day.
[00:38:17] Griff: I was, that was a trip.
[00:38:19] Michael: How did that come to
[00:38:20] Griff: be? She saw my videos and was like, he's trippy . And so the producers reached out to me and it we've been talking since October and like things have come up and blah, blah, blah. So they said, well, how about earth day? And I was like, great. I would love to talk about earth day resolutions.
[00:38:39] Cause that's how I treat earth day was it's like new year's Eve where you have new years resolutions, but want people to unearth day to have like, you know, conservation resolutions. So I was like, I could talk about earth, day resolutions. Yeah, I'm coming. And so I went on there and I, Michael, I was so sick that week.
[00:38:56] And so the night before I went on, I couldn't hear, I had such a bad ear infection of both ears. I could not hear I'm sweating. My head is pounding. And I'm like, wow, I'm I finally have an opportunity to talk to a whole bunch of people about earth day resolutions, and I'm gonna be so sick. They're gonna think that I'm a zombie.
[00:39:15] And the next day I woke up and I felt tiny bit better, but as soon as my adrenaline kicked in and stuff like that, my mother couldn't even tell that I was sick. So I pulled, I pulled it off of the adrenaline and excitement and, you know, I was just so happy that it worked out the way it did, because all the way going up to where I saw Kelly, I was just like, oh, I can't hear anybody.
[00:39:33] And I feel sick. And luckily she spoke loud and it
[00:39:37] Michael: worked out really well. That's great. And I hope that there's long lasting impact from that. We were chatting a little bit before we started recording about that. And, uh, I know she said that she would like to have you back on again. So I'm really hoping that she actually follows through on that and that you get the opportunity to, to become a recurring guest.
[00:39:55] Griff: You know, and it's so much fun too. Like I love making videos and I love teaching people. And I love talking about, you know, my passion in wildlife conservation and I wanna make it fun for people. And so like, I, I feel really grateful whenever I have an opportunity to do something like that. And so I try to look for those opportunities as much as possible, but when a big one, like that just comes at you, that made me feel truly blessed.
[00:40:18] Well,
[00:40:19] Michael: speaking of big opportunities in kind of big time media, you hosted a show called wild jobs on animal planet. Yeah. So you tell me about what that show's theme was. So wild
[00:40:30] Griff: jobs was kind of like dirty jobs, um, that had micro, I love micro. It was like that, but focused on animal jobs. And it was really like, and each scene was really short, like 10, 10 minutes tops.
[00:40:43] And they found me, um, high noon entertainment found me because of my YouTube channel. I used to be a lot more active on YouTube. I just started getting active on YouTube again, like a month ago. So, you know, I, I had this huge following and I just kind of like, eh, I don't wanna do YouTube anymore. And I, and I ditched it and I should have never done that.
[00:40:59] But anyways, they saw me on YouTube and they said, they called me up and they're like, Hey, have you anybody talk to you about a show? And I was like, yeah, people have been calling me and talk about shows and they either want me to dance or they wanna put camera on me at work, which, um, the CCC is dramatic enough already.
[00:41:13] They don't need cameras up. You know, a lot of the youth we're dealing with in their, like the last thing they need need is an academy award because . They're already dramatic enough, you know? Cause a lot of em are dealing with like, they just got out of the city and now they're in the rain planting trees on top of a mountain, you know, it's already dramatic and we don't wanna make it any worse for them.
[00:41:33] So I told 'em, I was like, I was like, well, if you're gonna, if you want follow me around at work, it's not happening. So sorry. And they're like, no. And I was like, okay, if you want me to dance or whatever, like I'll dance, but that's not my thing. Cause that's, you know, that's how I got a platform through dancing, not through conservation.
[00:41:48] They're like, no, we like your conservation videos. And we would like you to think about some of these show ideas and which one resonates you. And they all resonated with me. But while jobs was the one that took and hopefully now that I can retire, this was before I could actually retire. But now that I can retire, I'm hoping that I get another opportunity like that again.
[00:42:06] Um, because uh, wild jobs was a 10 episode online show that was super fun to do. And I would love to do that again, but I'd love to do it full time. and so kinda hoping I get a call now that COVID, O's over. I love what I'm doing right now, but there's something, you know, I wasn't, I wasn't, uh, I've never been wealthy.
[00:42:28] My family wasn't wealthy. I've never been wealthy. I've never had money to travel. So anytime that I've ever traveled, just because of work. So I got to go to Russia for six weeks, but that was because I was working. I know I've got to go to Mexico, but because it was working, you know, so it's like, I loved the traveling opportunity that I got doing a show and then got to go to these heroes.
[00:42:47] These people who like are awesome, who dedicated their life, you know, basically to a lot of 'em took a vow of poverty so that they could help wildlife. I mean, these are like the most incredible, awesome people. And I got to tell their story and that made me feel so honored to not only did I get to go to these beautiful places, but I got to give, put the spotlight on people who are just exquisite, compassionate.
[00:43:15] Individuals, you know, like the folks at Ojai Raptor center and like a lot of the wildlife care centers that I went to and the Gibbon conservation center and, um, Ellie who rescued horses that were on their way to be turned into a horse sushi and how she trained the young ones and got them adopted just all these people who are so compassionate.
[00:43:35] And it just felt like a blessing. I would love to do that again.
[00:43:39] Michael: So all these shows, I think they're still available online to view,
[00:43:42] Griff: is that correct? Yeah. You know, they're on animal planet.com, but I would recommend going to Facebook because on, if you go to Facebook, it's wild jobs is like two or three years old.
[00:43:51] It's still on the front page, which is beautiful. So it's, it's on the front page. And so right underneath cracky, the Irwins on the left hand side, you click on wild jobs and you can watch all 10 episodes and they're short and they're fun and they're weird. And if I ever had a chance to do it again, I have so much more video experience.
[00:44:05] So I would love to do it again, but to be more myself, like I really. Was in pinch me mode the whole entire time I was doing those episodes. So I like wasn't sure. And I, and I, and I've never really watched TV. I stopped watching TV when I was 14. So I didn't even know like what a TV host was supposed to do.
[00:44:22] I'd never seen dirty jobs at that point. Now that I've done all these Facebook lives, I feel like I know better how I just basically it's just about relaxing and being myself more. And that's good advice for anybody who wants to, um, do videos with a message is just to relax and be yourself and, and, and don't worry about being polished.
[00:44:41] It's okay to mess up and knowing that now I feel like I could really take that show much further and make it 10 times more helpful. And edutaining for people. So hopefully I'll get the opportunity. We'll see.
[00:44:53] Michael: Yeah, I hope so. For sure. And you know, you said there's episodes that are fairly short, but if you were gonna recommend one to start with, is there one that you would recommend?
[00:45:03] Griff: I like the one that I did with Phoenix herpetological society. Just because that was one of the last ones we filmed. And so I was feeling, I was being more myself in that one and just goofy and Doish and weird, awkward, and having fun. And, uh, I got, they, there was some really sci really cool science involved like this.
[00:45:23] They put a on alligator to help him walk better. And that was fascinating. And they do a lot of like rehabilitation with individual reptiles, which was totally, totally cool. And plus they were just really cool people. They were really fun to be around for a day. And then animal tracks, which I think is episode one animal planet, didn't share the first two episodes as much as I shared the other ones, which was too bad because I think episode one and two are, are also really fun.
[00:45:48] Um, episode one was animal tracks where, you know, when like a lot of times people get rich and they're like, I want a Jaguar in a Python, in a monkey as roommates. And then they get, 'em all. They're like, oh no, no big mistake. Oh my gosh. Or, you know, maybe they get raid by the police or whatever. And so these animals get confiscated and there's no place to take them.
[00:46:06] So they take 'em to these sanctuaries and animal tracks is one of those sanctuaries that takes care of like confiscated animals or, or animals that people got because they thought it was cool and then realized that, you know, monkeys poop all over the place. So, um, that was a really cool experience and really fun.
[00:46:22] And the, um, woman who runs it is a joy to be around. And you'll see, she's just fun. So it's animal tracks, episode one,
[00:46:31] Michael: I believe. Great. Some good starting points for that. So we are nearing the end of our time. So I, I did want to ask though, is when you and I chatted a couple of weeks ago, one thing that really came across and it's come across in your videos as well, is how passionate you are about treating personal areas as.
[00:46:51] And mm-hmm you, you even pointed me at some books, uh, to, to read. So can you tell me more about how this vision of your own personal spaces as habitat has come to be for you?
[00:47:05] Griff: You know, this is, there's like the deep, big answer, and there's the simple answer. I feel like I I'll start with the big deep answer.
[00:47:13] And if it gets too weird, you can just edit it out. I feel like we're at a point in our evolution, we've been evolving really fast. I know it doesn't seem like that. Cause we all said it's just short lifetimes, but you know, 120 years ago, right. Where I'm standing, people were being raped, murdered and sold and because of the color of their skin and that would never happen today.
[00:47:34] And 120 years seems like a long time ago, but it's too old ladies ago. Not, not even really old ladies. Okay. So from that period of time to where we're at now, there's been a lot of evolution taking place. And I think that the same spirit that made colonists. Evil towards indigenous people was the same spirit to why they exploited and over exploited the resources here, including the redwoods, salmon, Buffalo, everything, you know, in the west.
[00:48:01] And we, as a culture are slowly evolving away from that very dark and evil Andrey place. And we've had this conquer nature thing and we always wanna, and then, so we've, we've like conquered nature, put our houses there and then imported this other ecosystem from Asia or Europe or Africa, and are these ornamental plants and planted them.
[00:48:19] And these plants don't have relationships with the insects of this area. So they're basically, they, they might as well be plastic because they're not insects. Haven't evolved with them. And people always think the insects eat plants period. 95% of our insects are insect. Herbivores, only eat a few types of plants that they evolved.
[00:48:39] If you don't have those plants, you don't have those insects. If you don't have those insects, you don't have songbirds. Like I said earlier, insects are the plant of the land. The other thing is we always feel like we have to go someplace to get into nature. Now let's go to nature. Oh, I don't live in nature.
[00:48:55] I live in the city and I think the humans, we are nature observing itself, and we need to recognize that we can bring native ecosystems into our yards, onto our porch, into our places of worship into our workplaces. And it's really easy. And it starts with like native plants and a few other really simple practices that could take, you know, an hour long webinar to become really good at and to understand.
[00:49:19] So that's what I would love people to do is to start planting native plants so they can see the, the Moss and butterflies that lay their eggs. So your kids, and you can start seeing nature happen, even in the middle of LA in your apartment building. If you plant some native plants and pots on your porch, you're gonna see something, especially if they're hummingbird plants.
[00:49:36] So that's what I want people to do. I want people to reconnect, you know, realize that we're not plastic humans, we're fire apes. We're we are still animals. We still need nature. And we need to see kind of like borrow from some of the indigenous teachers that we have that I work with right now who tell me, you know, like we don't manage nature, we have a relationship with it.
[00:49:59] And so I think that we can also, you know, descendants of colonists, we can also start having a relationship with nature, the native nature here. And it starts just by including them into our landscapes native plants. And that will bring the insects. That'll bring the birds. And then when things are migrating across, you know, huge metropolises.
[00:50:17] They'll be able to land and find the berries that they evolved with fuel them on their trips. The butterflies too, like monarchs has been a great example, you know, take some generations to go up and down their migration corridor. They need milkweed here and there. They need native plants here and there that are blooming at the appropriate times.
[00:50:33] And that's what I want people to get into. I want people to start seeing themselves as urban naturalists and even with just a balcony, you can create some habitat.
[00:50:43] Michael: I hear you. And there's so many things I would like to say, because this is an area that I'm really passionate about as well. And I've been brainstorming some ideas as to how to, you know, spread the word to more people.
[00:50:53] But the one thing I will say is when COVID hit, like a lot of people, I started paying a lot more attention to my property and to my yard and I would take breaks and go out and look, and it turned into sort of a daily practice. And it did not take long at all for me to realize that my native plants was where all the action was.
[00:51:11] And Camelias and the roses and, you know, the citrus, there really wasn't much going on there. Like, you know, maybe, maybe when the citrus was blooming, it would attract a few pollinators, but it, it just was so eyeopening. And despite having heard this message many times from people, it really took me experiencing it to see that how important it was to treat our yards better.
[00:51:34] Yeah. And you know, the other thing that I then realized, he's like, I haven't used pesticide in a long time and I started noticing all these aphid outbreaks I'd never paid attention to before. And within a matter of a couple days, the lay swings would come in and they would plant their eggs right next to the aphids.
[00:51:49] And then a few days later, mm-hmm those eggs were gone. And so were the aphids, you know, so yeah, the, the, the natural systems were starting to work again. Yeah. And, you
[00:51:58] Griff: know, it's like, we gotta stop. One of the things that I think we, part of this whole evolution thing from. Horrible murderous Americans that are wanna dominate nature and people, uh, part of the evolution is to start looking at plants differently.
[00:52:13] Like plants are more than just about looks. They're also about, uh, what they can do. So when, when we buy plants, we should buy them for what they can do as, as well as aesthetics. But what can they do and what are they gonna attract? Cause native, plant's gonna attract a bunch of beautiful butterflies and no one's gonna be mad at you.
[00:52:28] If you have too many butterflies in your yard, like, no, one's, you're not gonna meet anybody on Tinder and they're gonna come over your house and they're gonna like, oh, I thought we were a perfect match, but you have way too many butterflies in your yard. So this is not gonna work out. Like that's never gonna happen.
[00:52:38] And then people and I've had people go, well, I gotta use the poisons. Cause I get bite marks on my leaves. I live and work in the most beautiful place on the planet. And you know what? We don't spray any of the plants. All of our plants have bite marks, but you never heard anybody come back from the redwoods and say, oh, the redwoods were so beautiful.
[00:52:56] Were it not for all the bite marks on the plants? You never heard anybody go. Oh, Yellowstone was great. Except for there was so many bug bites on the plants. Like no one ever says that. So people, if you're looking at your, um, plants close enough to see bite marks, then follow it and find the caterpillar that's doing it.
[00:53:15] Take a picture of them, upload it on iNaturalist. And that thing that left a bite mark is probably gonna turn into a beautiful butterfly and you really don't want to kill it
[00:53:25] Michael: again. So many places I want to go with this and I, I wanna be respectful of your time and not drag it on, but just looking at the backyard, the interesting things you see that are bite marks like leaf mining, insects.
[00:53:39] Are just amazing. Mm-hmm the, the ecology of what's going on there, or like a leaf cutter B those perfect little half circles. Mm-hmm that they cut out of, of the leaves. I find that beautiful just in itself.
[00:53:49] Griff: Yeah. And it's a story. And if you learn about it, like all of a sudden you become like, I'm a, this is what I do for a living.
[00:53:56] I do. And when, when I take people walks, I do point out the bite marks and talk about 'em, but it's like, you could do that in your own yard or on your own porch balcony. You could say, see this bite mark right here, or see how all the hairs in this leaf were removed. Well, there's this bee that came out and it took off all the hairs in this leaf and lined its little nest with it.
[00:54:15] And then, and then got some pollen from these other flowers in my yard, made a little pollen bag for, you know, and put it by this egg and close it up. And this egg is gonna hatch larva. And the next summer I'm gonna have another B um, another native B or whatever. Like if you learn about what's going on in your yard, you could now like entertain guests.
[00:54:33] By showing them, you know, and like breakout some microscopes or magnifying glasses and show them these cool things and tell them the stories. And then now all of a sudden in your yard, instead of being a bunch of plastic plants that no one really notices because your yard looks just like everybody else's, but now you have all these stories in your yard, your, your yard has soul and that's what native plants could bring
[00:54:53] Michael: it.
[00:54:53] Absolutely. So to steer this towards wrapping up, I do wanna find out is I know you have a whole bunch of, of knowledge and resources that you've been thinking of as we've been talking today. So do you have any resources, books, or documentaries or anything that really stand out as important or influential to you right now that you'd recommend to others
[00:55:13] Griff: by far?
[00:55:14] Doug Toomes work by far by far Doug T's work. So, um, if you're on the east coast, you can get, nature's bringing nature. I mean, even you're on the west coast, you could get bringing nature home, but his newer book nature's best hope is a must read or must listen to it is wonderful. It's so helpful. He gives you so many tools to make the world a better place for wildlife and also just to make your life more interesting.
[00:55:38] Nature's best hope by Doug toy. I, he just came out for another book. I think it's gone on sale today. A matter of fact about Oak trees, which is my next book. I'm gonna read cuz I love his work. So Doug TME and he is got a bunch of YouTube videos. Doug OME, Doug TMI, Doug TME. Nature's best hope. That would be my fir that's where I send everybody start there.
[00:55:58] Michael: So I am, uh, maybe a third of the way through nature's best hope. And uh, it was that your recommendation actually that I picked it up. Oh cool. So I've been enjoying it and it really is eye opening, you know, especially the introduction puts together so many pieces like right there in one place. mm-hmm
[00:56:16] Okay. So do you have any other upcoming projects or interesting things that you wanna point out you'd like to highlight to listeners?
[00:56:25] Griff: Well, you know, I'm got, I've been working with some folks and hopefully there'll be a documentary coming out this time next year, about coexistence. It's something that I've really been getting into is coexistence with wildlife.
[00:56:36] Something that's been very, very interesting to me. If that's interesting to you, um, I would recommend checking out, Chris Wilmers from Santa Cruz university. He talks about mountain lions. He's very like I've listened to a lot of people. Talk about mountain lions. He's one of my favorite people to listen to.
[00:56:50] If you wanna learn about predators in California, Chris Wilmers and then I think it's wood river and they in Idaho and it's a group called wood river, pretty sure it's wood river. And they deal with like Wolf coexistence. And so those are both really interesting. And then there's a guy named Chris shell.
[00:57:05] Was up in Seattle, Dr. Christelle talks about urban wildlife. I think that's really interesting. So these are some other things that people might wanna explore is like wildlife coexistence. And I'm, you know, I'm gonna be in this documentary, talking about it in a year. Um, I'll tell you more about that before it comes out.
[00:57:20] And then, you know, I work for, I work for the state, California state parks and this year's, but I'm not representing them right now, but this year is the Centennial Ann. And so the last Saturday of every month I'll be interviewing someone and in July, it's gonna be reading us, which is incredible to me.
[00:57:38] He's like the father of deep ecology. He's one of the fathers of conservation biology. He wrote the book, you know, about, about the redwoods. And so I'm looking forward to having him on, and then Jerry Rose, who wrote the book about Humboldt red state park and, and then, uh, Jose Gonzalez from Latino outdoors.
[00:57:55] Who's also been instrumental in saving some wilderness areas in California. So there's really cool speaker series that I'm doing. And so people can go to Humboldt, Redwood state parks, Facebook page, and I also put a lot of lives there. And then on my, my own personal Facebook page at gr wild, I put a lot of live videos there and on my Instagram at the nature net, and I'm always doing stuff around wildlife conservation and ecological restoration and DEI and diversity inclusion, equity stuff too, is also something really important to me.
[00:58:23] Michael: That's great. Uh, so it's definitely sounds like you have a busy schedule ahead. And the other thing I was gonna mention. For those who are on my mail list, I always follow up with my previous guests and I ask them about like upcoming projects. So, uh, in the future Griff, I'm gonna reach out regardless and, and say, Hey, what's going on?
[00:58:43] So I can share it with people who got to hear you today. So, uh, that, that will probably be a good chance then to catch up on, on that documentary and other cool things that you're up to. Yeah.
[00:58:52] Griff: Thank you. Biodiversity loss is happening. It's real. And there are a bunch of things we can do to help. And I want you to not just do the things, but also come outta your comfort zones and be contagious and try to infect other people with your conservation bug.
[00:59:09] We need all hands on deck right now. It's never been so important. It keeps getting more and more urgent. And, and I would like to it to not be so urgent. And I feel like it can take a generation of us educating each other and, and, and just getting really active with this so that we can slow. This, you know, extinction crisis and, and address some of our other issues too, but it's gonna take us doing something and informing ourselves and becoming empathetic and taking compassionate action.
[00:59:33] And that's what it needs to be Solutionary to inform yourself, to be empathetic, to take compassion, to action. That's what a Solutionary is, and we need Solutionary. So please dedicate some time commit to this
[00:59:44] Michael: gr that's inspiring. And I don't think there's anything else I can add to it. So thank you so much for spending so much time today, and I look forward to staying in touch in the future.
[00:59:53] I hope you had a good time.
[00:59:55] Griff: Awesome. Thank you.
[00:59:57] Michael: We live in a world where soundbites dominate and true understanding is shrinking nature's archive podcast, digs a little bit deeper, hoping to help the world understand nature just a little bit more. I hope that this podcast has planted a seed of interest.
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[01:01:04] And one last word I want to make sure to give credit to the music that you hear in the podcast. The opening song is called fearless first by Kevin McLeod. And the closing song is called beauty flow. Also by Kevin McLeod, you can find his work@incomtech.film music.io.