Don Henley Speaks at the University of North Texas (9/29/05)

Don Henley was invited by his alma mater to give a guest lecture on his work at Caddo Lake. We attended the event.

Article from the Daily Texan (no longer available online)

In a far cry from the usual setting of a rock musician, former Eagles drummer Don Henley spoke about the environment and his work for Caddo Lake, the only natural lake in Texas, Thursday night at the Gateway Center.

David Hall, Richardson junior and president of the Student Government Association, began the lecture by introducing state Senator Bob Deuell, R-Greenville to a round of applause.

“It really is good to be back here at North Texas”, Deuell said.

Deuell was a freshman music student at NT in the late ’60s when he knew Henley, who was an English student at the time.

“Don got real successful with the music and I’m still learning English,” he said, joking.

Deuell said he had already promised Henley he would help save Caddo Lake, even though it is not in his district.

“What the Caddo Lake Institute has let me do as a senator is that I can go and use environmental facts and sound science and use it in legislation,” he said.

Deuell said he was part of a non-partisan group of senators who proposed Senate Bill 3 to the Senate in Washington, D.C. to stop construction at Caddo Lake. That bill did not pass.

Henley took the podium and spoke in a low-key and gruff manner before showing a 12–minute video excerpt from a documentary being filmed at Caddo Lake.

The video highlighted the history and creation of Caddo Lake in eastern Texas, when water from an adjacent basin spilled over and formed the lake.

The lake is called “Caddo,” because the Kadohdacho American Indians inhabited the watershed for roughly “1000 years before the arrival of Fernando DeSoto,” Henley said.

Henley reminisced about his days as a child in the ’50s, growing up in Linden, near Caddo Lake, in eastern Texas.

“I remember the first time I saw a bass fish come out of the murky depths...my eyes were like saucer plates, and my heart was beating in my frail chest,” he said.

Henley said his fishing trips with his father formed his ideas about the environment and his work with Caddo Lake.

Henley went to NT from the fall of 1967 to the spring of 1969 and said his time here further shaped his “conversion” to environmentalism.

“I had a good academic experience here, with the exception of the music theory class I failed,” he said, laughing.

He said reading writers steeped in nature, such as Henry David Thoreau helped him become environmentally aware.

Henley said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began building levees and canals to use the Caddo Lake area for commercial shipping in 1990.

Henley founded the Caddo Lake Scholars Program with the help of the former Governor Ann Richards, D-Texas in 1992. Soon after, they convinced budget appropriators in Washington D.C. to halt the Army project at Caddo Lake.

“We know … that once we get one thing stopped, another comes along,” he said.

Henley said business magnates in Marshall, near the lake, are attempting to build an industrial park near a biological refuge for animals at Caddo Lake.

“I would like to speak more on that but there is ongoing litigation,” Henley said.

He said he constantly travels to Austin and Washington D.C., working with state senators and representatives to stop the construction.

It is difficult because Caddo Lake resides in Texas and Louisiana and has “at least four agencies in each state with jurisdiction there, not to mention the federal level,” he said.

In addition, he said the Caddo Lake Institute is helping educate residents there about the scientific details of the watershed’s activity.

Our Report on the Event

The speech was held in a ballroom on the UNT campus. There were maybe about 250 people there. The first 4 rows were roped off for "VIPs" (chancellors, university muckety-mucks and a small contingent from Uncertain). We sat 2 rows behind that right in front of the podium. 

Don was first introduced by the UNT student body president who had hair the color of Opie's. He made some general remarks and then let Senator Bob Deuell talk about some of the legislative work he's done on behalf of Caddo. Senator Deuell made some funny remarks about how he attended UNT at the same time Don did. The Senator was a music major studying percussion and Don was an English major. Now Don is a famous drummer and the Senator still has trouble with English. He also said that his wife was probably the only one there to see him instead of Don. Don then took the podium. 

Don was wearing a black suit, white shirt and a dark blue (almost sapphire) tie that we're not sure worked with the black. He also had a pair of glasses that he didn't wear once. He merely gestured with them and waved them about all night long. We particularly enjoyed when he put them in his mouth to clap for the other speakers. 

Don gave some introductory thank-yous to the assembled dignitaries. He talked about his time at UNT and that the music theory class there was the only F he ever received. 

He mentioned where his campus apartments were and that he found one and couldn't find the other. Apparently, Don lived with roommates the first year at UNT and then, "....roommates being what they are" Don lived alone the next year. 

Don talked about how much he enjoyed being at UNT. He had spent a few years at Stephen F. Austin University were everyone was either an agribusiness or forestry major and Don was a freak because his hair touched his ears. He mentioned some of his favorite professors including his Shakespeare professor who "...now lives in Arizona and still chain smokes". She also writes very long, very elegant and funny letters. 

Don then asked everyone who had been to the lake. About half the people raised their hands. He seemed surprised. He said that he had brought an audio-visual aid (we had been hoping for a PowerPoint), but it was only a short film. Don said he'd be in the back, "...adjusting the volume...that's what I do". 

The film was really nice and featured some local Caddo characters. Don also appeared in the film looking like the scary mountain man picture. He talked about how his dad had taken him fishing and that he had recently taken his son fishing there for the first time and felt a real bond. 

After the film was over, Don came back onto the podium (everyone had left it so that according to Don, "...our big heads won't be in the way"). Don was surprised that nobody else came back onto the podium. "I'm all alone up here...where's the band?" 

Don told us that his speech would be 2 parts. One would be "anecdotal" and the other would be technical and contain lots of acronyms (Don hates acronyms). He gave us all permission to go to Starbucks during that part. 

During the anecdotal part of the speech he mentioned going to Caddo when he was 8 and not realizing it's historical importance. He mentioned that even Elvis had been to Caddo and that someone in Shreveport gave him a photo of Elvis leaning up against a tree at Caddo Lake State Park. He said that he couldn't believe that Elvis' daughter would grow up to record one of his songs (and not very well). Don then asked them to not put it in the paper because she's a good girl who just needs some guidance. As an aside, Don said that maybe Tom Cruise could provide the guidance. He cracked himself up with that one. 

Don then talked about getting involved with the lake. When he was living in California, he kept getting phone calls from his friends in East Texas asking him to help. That's how he got involved. 

Some of the things mentioned during the technical part of the speech were: 

The RAMSAR designation as a wetland of international importance and how getting that designation helps them collect important scientific data. Despite the fact that politicians (including the president) don't seem to like scientific facts, they've found that a clearinghouse of information is essential to getting things done. 

Don talked about forming local collaborative groups to monitor water and identify problems. It's a model that really works although collaboration is not always a panacea. Don said he knows this very well because, "...I'm in a band".

Don talked about how the main pollutant to the lake was air pollution and how if local power plants would make the very inexpensive shift from coal burning to natural gas things would be much better. 

Don wondered why Texas, whose main economic source of income is tourism, would rather support polluting businesses instead of clean, recreational activities. 

Don talked about the nitrogen in the lake and how water lilies can be a bad thing. 

He mentioned that he has to go to Washington D.C. on Monday to talk to Senator Hutchinson about something, but that was a story for another day. 

Don talked about the fact that if countries like Iran can be part of an international organization to help their wetlands (yes, Iran has wetlands) that even Texas could do it. 

See, we were paying attention!  

Don really took his mission to inform students about the lake seriously. Throughout the speech he was jovial, cracked lots of jokes and was great to just sit and listen to.