Yosemite National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson, who is best known for inviting Oprah Winfrey to visit the park in order to lure more African Americas to national parks, was a guest speaker at the National Tour Association’s (NTA) annual meeting in Las Vegas, Dec. 5-9, 2011. Because of his invitation, Oprah devoted two of her television shows to visiting and camping out in Yosemite National Park with her friend Gayle King.
Johnson won over the NTA audience at Mandalay Bay with his skillful speaking style embellished with humorous commentary especially around the idea that he was born and raised in the rough streets of Detroit. He opened his sincere and thought provoking plea and closed it beautifully by soulfully playing a small woodwind instrument resonating with the great outdoors that he represents.
His serious message was to ask the tour operators in attendance to spread the message and invite African Americans and Hispanics to visit the national parks. He emphasized that we are all owners of the national parks and then expressed the fact that “African Americans and Hispanics never felt they had received an invitation.”
Johnson considered Oprah’s visit to be a seismic event bringing attention to this attendance void. As Interpretive Park Ranger at Yosemite National Park, he was the 28th recipient of the 2009 Freeman Tilden Award for excellence in interpretation. He was cited for his extensive collaboration with Ken Burns during the filming of the landmark documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. Johnson’s messages are reaching far beyond Yosemite National Park and have facilitated lasting connections between African Americans and their national parks.
Shelton Johnson has worked for the National Park Service for more than 20 years with prior experience at Yellowstone National Park, Great Basin National Park, and the National Mall in Washington D.C.
Comments