The crusader for wild places and leader of the Sierra Club’s battles to protect desert wilderness died Sunday of prostate cancer at his home in Joshua Tree, Calif. He was 80. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s statement:"Hughes dedicated his life to the protection and revival of our great Mojave Desert and its tortoises. I'll never forget when he brought a couple of tortoises to a large constituent breakfast and the amazed and glowing faces of youngsters when he told them they live for decades. Elden led a huge citizen effort in 1993 to support my Desert Protection Act. We will pass the second Desert Protection Act, now pending in committee, in his honor. He will be greatly missed."Obituary: LA Times
Image: Rodrigo Pena/ Riverside Press-Telegram
