Shane Harper Hulsey
October 1, 1973 – October 20, 2006
A
treasured colleague and friend who added joy to our lives and the lives of all
the children he nurtured on the river.
CRS and the graceful family
and many friends of Shane Harper Hulsey suffered a profound loss when he died
on October 20 in a kayaking accident in Little River Canyon, one of the places
he loved most.
Shane's life is a testament to the
difference one soul can make for our Earth. We estimate that Shane took more than 10,000 eager children and
adults into the waters of the beautiful Cahaba for hands-on lessons about the
environment. With Shane they learned about life in the Cahaba and learned to love the
river. Most were students in the CLEAN environmental education program, and Shane made
huge strides towards our goal to raise our region's next generation of
caring and well-informed stewards of our rivers, lakes and streams.
Shane joined CRS as Environmental Educator in 2000
and became leader of the CLEAN program in 2002. He brought tremendous skills
both in teaching and safety, with past experience as a kayak instructor and a
whitewater and sea kayaking guide and training in CPR, as an EMT, and as a
Certified Swiftwater Rescue Instructor.
Shane’s deeply thoughtful
approach to life was reflected in the BA in Philosophy he received from UAB in
1999, and his drive to learn and grow was reflected in the Master of Science degree in
Environmental Management he recently received from Samford University.
Considering the intense time and energy commitment of the CLEAN program, it is
a testament to Shane that he earned this degree while working full-time.
Most of all, Shane was fun! He was a mischievous and joyful man with a great belly-laugh, radiating warmth. He was an inspiring teacher who quickly earned the full attention of the students, because he had the playful wonderment of a youth mixed with the wisdom of an old soul. CLEAN is a demanding program – hauling canoes, teaching a new batch of kids for a whole day, day after day. It suited Shane to a “T,” and he often said he had the best job in the world. His sheer pleasure in teaching on the river inspired thousands of students.
Read more of what students and teachers have said about their day with Shane. Also follow this link to find other online tributes to the many different sides of Shane, created by his friends and family, and to learn about the Little River Canyon Land Trust founded in his honor.
More
about CLEAN …
CLEAN is founded on the
belief that people act to protect the places they care deeply about, and people
only care about the places they know first hand and understand. One of the
driving values of all of Shane’s life was to get people out into nature so that
they would love and care for beautiful Earth.
Our unique, interactive
CLEAN (Children Linking with the Environment Across the Nation) program reaches
a diverse audience of 4th – 12th grade students – our
future leaders - taking them into the Cahaba for full-day stream walks and
canoe trips. CLEAN also trains teachers in river education and organizes
volunteer restoration projects such as stream cleanups and construction of
outdoor classrooms. The only program of
its kind in Alabama, CLEAN makes the connection between healthy rivers, clean
drinking water, and our rich heritage of freshwater life.
Shane’s Contributions to CLEAN & CRS
Shane Hulsey
inherited a strong program, and greatly expanded it’s reach, educational
effectiveness, and popularity. While many
CRS staff, especially our talented part-time field educators, were a big part
of these accomplishments, Shane’s creativity and drive deserve special credit.
§
Shane
expanded CLEAN into the summer by teaming with other programs, such as the
Birmingham Water Board’s Water Ambassadors, a 2-week camp for urban youth, and
Ruffner Mountain Nature Center’s summer camp.
§
He reached out to serve students in the
middle and lower watershed, bringing this effective educational program to
Dallas County students in the Black Belt. With a grant from the US Fish &
Wildlife Foundation, Shane brought many Bibb County students to the Cahaba
National Wildlife Refuge.
§
This added
outreach helped CLEAN serve students reflecting the racial, income, and
geographic diversity of our region.
§
Shane created a new fundraising event,
the Cahaba River Ramble trail races, which brought 250 people from 6 states to
the Cahaba National Wildlife Refuge while the lilies were in bloom. Plan to
Ramble with us in May 2007!
§
This past
year he raised enough additional funds to replace our entire fleet of CLEAN
canoes, which tend to take a beating from our inexperienced but enthusiastic
students.
Shane's CRS family loves
him, and we miss him so much. It
is with great sadness that we pull together and move forward in our work to
fulfill our mission without Shane, whose spirit was the ideal of our
organization. Yet it is with great
privilege that we celebrate the innumerable gifts he shared with us in the time
we were so fortunate to have with him, and with great determination that we
pledge to build on his legacy.
Most of all, be inspired by
Shane, to get out into the wild places, and take lots of people with you!
Donations and Volunteer Opportunities to Honor Shane
The Hulsey family asked that several funds be created for those who wish to donate in Shane’s memory. Links to giving opportunities with CRS, The Nature Conservancy, and the American Whitewater Association are below.
Cahaba River
Society's CLEAN Program
Little River Canyon Trust
The
Nature Conservancy of Alabama
American
Whitewater
We deeply appreciate and have been so moved by the outpouring of kindness. This generosity will help CRS to continue and strengthen CLEAN, a unique program that meant so much to Shane and to thousands of students and teachers throughout the region. We are proud beyond measure of the passionate commitment Shane had to our educational outreach efforts, and your generous gifts of volunteer time and funds will help us to honor and to continue the success of his life’s work with this vital program.
And to all of you who so
generously sent messages of support and offers of volunteer assistance, please
know that it has helped us so very much during
this hard time. On behalf of all of us at CRS, thank you.
We most especially want to thank Shane’s family for their concern and care. They are a very big-hearted family, full of grace and generosity of spirit. It is easy to see how Shane grew to be so special and giving. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers, and please consider a special donation to help the family with expenses and plan to attend the Raindrop Festival planned for January 14 at Bottletree to raise funds for the family.
