Harriet Allen

Harriet Allen; environmentalist advocated for desert

Harriet Allen's love of the desert can be traced to her childhood, when her family took frequent camping trips to Coachella Valley and the southern Sonoran Desert.

A longtime environmentalist who enjoyed camping under the stars into her 80s, Mrs. Allen is credited with helping save large expanses of land in the state from mining and grazing through her work with the Desert Protective Council, the Sierra Club and her advocacy of the California Desert Protection Act.

Mrs. Allen died of natural causes Sept. 30 in San Diego. She was 95.

Many desert environmental activists point to Mrs. Allen's leadership and mentoring as vital to successful efforts in preserving Joshua Tree National Monument and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. She was a founding member of the Desert Protective Council, formed in 1954.

"She was my mentor" said Elden Hughes, a longtime desert conservationist with the Sierra Club."She was involved in protecting the desert for many years and ultimately became the conscience (of the movement).

"Her strength was as a teacher to the general public and as a teacher to activists. She was a teacher to me and to those who taught me. She taught us to hang in there . . . environmental battles are long ones. She was a small lady, but persistent in advocating her views. It's just wonderful that the desert had such a friend."

Friend and colleague Jim Dodson said Mrs. Allen was a member of the environmentalist old guard."She was really wise about the way government worked and had really good instincts. We depended on her a great deal," said Dodson, a longtime Sierra Club leader.

Those who knew Mrs. Allen said she was conscientious about education and helping people understand the beauty of the desert and the importance of conservation efforts.

"She had an incredible political awareness of land-use issues," said Terry Weiner, Desert Protective Council conservation coordinator."She really was one of the most (effective) members (of the council) in her 45 years of involvement."

Mrs. Allen was born Dec. 22, 1913, in Pasadena to Mabel Crawford Reeder and John Wallace Reeder. She earned a bachelor's degree in education from Occidental College in 1935 and master's degrees in physical therapy and psychology from Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

She taught physical education at what was then Chaffey Junior College in Rancho Cucamonga and was later a school counselor in the San Diego Unified School District.

She learned to fly and got her pilot's license in the late 1930s. She was ahead of her time, said her brother, Wilbur Reeder.

"As a young woman, she was always adventurous," Reeder said."She became a multi-engine (flight) instructor, and she joined the WAVES when she heard the Navy was going to start a women's flying division. It never happened, but she came out (of the Navy) as a lieutenant."

While in the Navy, she was a control-tower operator at an Atlanta airfield, said her husband, Howard. Later, she was a flight instructor in the 1940s and '50s at what is now Montgomery Field, he said.

She married Howard Allen on Sept. 3, 1949, and the couple settled in Spring Valley.

In addition to her work with the Desert Protective Council, Mrs. Allen served on the California Coastal Commission and was a chapter chairwoman for the Sierra Club.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by her sons, Jeff and Doug of San Diego; brother, Wilbur Reeder of Altadena; and two grandsons.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Oct. 31 at Pacific Beach Presbyterian Church.