Bringing nature to people, and people to nature. It’s a passion for Joedy Yglesias, and his family planted the seeds when he was a boy.
Joedy grew up relatively poor in Corpus Christi, but his parents vowed to expose their children to nature. They took them on trips to Texas state parks and as far away as the Rocky Mountains. Joedy eventually moved to Austin, then enlisted in the Navy, a career that would last 21 years. In 2009, stationed in Iraq, he asked himself a searching question: “If my life ended now, what are my most cherished memories?” The answer was clear: it was those outdoor journeys with his family.
When Joedy returned from Iraq to his station in San Antonio, he needed decompression time away from humanity. He decided to take a couple of his nephews on a camping excursion to Huntsville State Park.
That trip would set the course for his future.
Joedy talked to a ranger there who suggested that he also check out Colorado Bend State Park. “On my first visit there,” he says, “I fell in love with its springs, its rugged river gorge, its falls and wild caves. I told myself, ‘I am going to be part of this place.’”
Joedy’s initial volunteer assignment at Colorado Bend was to remove young cedars from a grassland in restoration. He visited every other weekend, getting to know the staff, shouldering more responsibilities, eventually leading tours through the caves. He served there for over a decade, and people often ask him why he chose a place so far from San Antonio. “Part of the therapy for me,” he says, “is the drive itself. As I wound through the Hill Country, there was an unwinding of my inner tensions.”
Colorado Bend has become increasingly popular. During Spring Break of 2015, the staff put out a call for additional volunteers. One of them was a Master Naturalist, and as Joedy heard her talk about flora and fauna, he realized that he, too, wanted to deepen his knowledge.
Joedy graduated in MN Class 40. Since then he has volunteered with Pedernales State Park, the River Studies Program Office in San Marcos, the San Antonio River Authority, Headwaters Sanctuary, and the Medina River Natural Area. He became one of the first Texas Waters Specialists, served a term as Vice President on the AAMN Board, and was a SARA Liaison for the Alamo Chapter.
Joedy’s fondest experiences have been working with youth. He led a group of scouts and their parents on a canoe trip down the Guadalupe River. “It was like herding cats,” he says, “but very satisfying.” He also took a group of inner-city teens from San Antonio’s Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church on a camping trip. He will always remember one of them gazing up in wonder at the night sky and saying, “I never knew there were so many stars.”
“As a native Texan,” he says, “knowing my state makes me feel like I belong to this land and it belongs to me. It gives me deep satisfaction to protect our natural resources for future generations, bringing nature to others and others to nature, especially youth from underprivileged communities. I was given this gift as a boy, and now I can pay it forward.”
(Update: In late 2020, Joedy took a job with Texas Parks and Wildlife as the Office Manager at Big Bend Ranch State Park)
Written by Krin Van Tatenhove, Class #45
