#21: John "Griff" Griffith on Redwood Ecosystems, Hosting Animal Planet's Wild Jobs, and Being a "Solutionary"

My 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 long time crew supervisor in the California Conservation Corps, where he and his crew restored habitat throughout Northern California.

Griff’s love of nature and infectious personality make him a natural educator. He immerses himself in his projects and parks he supports, learning the ecology and history, and encouraging diversity in his programs. You have to check out his Facebook Live weekly videos from Humboldt Redwoods State Park to see how charismatic and on-point he is.

Griff joined me from some of the last remaining in-tact old growth redwood forest. And note, that while he works for California State Parks, in this episode he is off duty, not representing state parks.

In our wide-ranging conversation, we discuss what makes old growth redwoods so magical. If you haven’t seen redwoods before, just think "Star Wars Return of the Jedi Forest Moon of Endor", which was filmed in this area!

Our discussion of giant trees takes a surprising turn to prairies - yes, there are productive prairies in the redwoods. Griff tells of an exciting elk encounter he had at one of them, that thankfully we can laugh about.

We spend a lot of time talking about Griff’s approach to conservation content creation, including specific approaches that you and I can use. We get into details about Griff’s Animal Planet show, “Wild Jobs”, which is a must-see!

We wrap up discussing the importance of treating our properties like habitat. In typical Griff style, he uniquely and entertainingly makes this point.

If you haven't seen Griff before, I promise that you'll walk away a fan. Be sure to check out his Facebook and YouTube!

FULL SHOW NOTES

Books, Places - Book links are affiliate links
Before the Wilderness: Environmental Management By Native Californians, Kat Anderson
Bald Hills
Nature's Best Hope - by Doug Tallamy. Also Bringing Nature Home
Mattole Road - "The Most Epic Road on the Planet"
Wild Jobs. Griff hosted this show, and recommends Wounded Reptile Rehab with the Phoenix Herpetological Society to start

People, Organizations
Animal Tracks - from Wild Jobs Episode 1
California Conservation Corps
Chris Wilmers UC Santa Cruz Lab - famous for their Puma project
Gibbon Conservation Center
Griff on the Kelly Clarkson Show
Humboldt Redwoods State Park
Jose Gonzalez, Latino Outdoors
Ojai Raptor Center
Reed Noss, whom Griff will be interviewing
Wood River Wolf Project