Category: Featured Mission
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2024: A Year in Flight
Taking time to reflect on 2024’s accomplishments From wildlife transports to landscape-scale conservation, 2024 was a year of impact from above. Here’s a look at LightHawk by the numbers. 187 Total Flights LightHawk volunteer pilots flew 187 flights over the year. This is an increase in 40 flights over our 2023 total. It also averages…
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Meet Myrtle: One Abalone with a Big Role in Recovery
Myrtle is no ordinary LightHawk passenger. She is one of just 10 wild-origin white abalone living in captivity, making her an important part of the effort to save the species. LightHawk volunteer pilot Michael Baum flew Myrtle from Long Beach to UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, where she joined the White Abalone Captive Breeding Program.…
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Documenting Colorado’s Changing Wildfire Landscape
In early October, a trio of LightHawk volunteer pilots met with a group taking part in the Colorado Wildland Fire Conference in Snowmass, CO. These flights were arranged in partnership with Fire Adapted Colorado, a nonprofit working to build support for wildfire mitigation work in areas closest to communities and critical infrastructure. Their work is…
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Protecting Bull Kelp in the San Juan Archipelago
LightHawk partnered with the Samish Indian Nation on a test flight to prepare for monthly aerial monitoring of bull kelp beds in the San Juan Archipelago. For the Samish Indian Nation, protecting these waters is both a cultural responsibility and a conservation priority. The Tribe combines traditional knowledge with modern science and works alongside state…
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Documenting Transmission Line Impact to Arizona’s San Pedro Valley
Earlier this month, LightHawk took to the sky with conservation partner Archeology Southwest. The flight aimed to assess the SunZia transmission line and document its impacts on cultural and natural resources. Volunteer pilot Michael Schroeder provided the flight for seven passengers to gain an aerial perspective on the issue. The transmission line construction runs right…