Robert Redford, who died in September, is known for founding the Sundance Film Festival -- but "CBS Saturday Morning" learns more about his conservation efforts behind-the-scenes that have helped generations of hikers and nature lovers.

Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker Robert Redford, who passed away in 2025, is being remembered not only for his contributions to film but also for his enduring impact on environmental conservation. Redford preserved thousands of acres in Utah's Wasatch Mountains, preventing development and supporting the creation of the Sundance Resort and the protection of local wilderness.

His activism included successfully campaigning against a coal-fired plant in Southern Utah and supporting non-profit efforts to protect tens of thousands of acres statewide. Redford's efforts have left a lasting legacy, ensuring that significant natural landscapes remain untouched for future generations of people and wildlife.

How Robert Redford's conservation efforts helped nature lovers

As the year comes to a close, we're remembering many of the prominent figures we lost in 2025. This year, we said goodbye to a pope, global icons, political leaders, actors, musicians, athletes, even a pro-wrestling superstar. Now the list includes Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker Robert Redford. He was one of the most bankable leading men of the 60s and 70s before turning his attention to directing and the film festival he launched that continues to this day. But as Janet Shanley reports, it's what he did away from the spotlight that may be his most lasting legacy. In Utah's Wasatch Mountains, the late fall landscape looks like a painting. The metals are bursting with color, the rivers teeming with trout. This is a blue ribbon trout stream, 5,000 fish per mile. Just one of the epic, you know, for me, fly fishing places in the whole world. For Brian Wimmer, this stretch of the Provo River Canyon will always remind him of his longtime friend, Robert Redford. So you didn't really know him originally as a big Hollywood star. No, I never knew him as a Hollywood star because it was just, it was Bob, you know, he would, and in fact, it looked like he walked out of his house and onto the set in the same outfit. I'm like, he gets paid to do that? Wimmer started working for Redford more than 50 years ago and had a front row seat to the actor's defense of Utah's pristine wilderness. What is his legacy here? His legacy here is that he preserved Sundance for all of us locals who have such a real connection to this place. Right where we are here, there would have been a freeway right over the top of this, just to make it 15 minutes faster for commuters and truckers. Redford discovered the area as a young actor in the 1960s. He eventually acquired thousands of acres, protecting much of it from development and naming it Sundance after his role in Butch Cassidy in The Sundance Kid. It would become his home and the birthplace of the Sundance Resort. We are surrounded by protected land. To see that legacy up close, environmentalist Wendy Fisher, still mourning, took us to the Redford family Elk Meadows Preserve, a stunning sweep of open field at the foot of Mount Tipinogos. If he had not fallen in love with this area, what would this land be perhaps? There's no question that without Robert Redford's vision and quite frankly, the courage to act, this would be up for development. Instead, Redford ensured more than 2,000 acres would remain untouched, fueling the work of the non-profit Utah Open Lands, which Fisher runs, to protect 65,000 more statewide. What is it like for you today when we're here and the colors are exploding and you see hikers in the meadow? There's nothing left to say but gratitude. And when I think about the next generation of hikers, the next generation of moose, I just like to say thank you. His activism wasn't always met with gratitude. In the 1970s, Redford successfully campaigned against the construction of a large coal-fired plant on public lands in Southern Utah, becoming the target of public anger over lost jobs. He spoke to 60 Minutes at the time, which helped turn public opinion against the project. If we remove the air quality surrounding the scenic parks, if we degrade the land with roads and transmission lines, then obviously that space that has scenic value is gone. Today, that area is a federally preserved national monument, the land unspoiled. The lower Provo is what this is. Much like the pristine Provo River, free of dams and diversions, a sanctuary for all. It sounds like you feel lucky to have known him and had a friendship. Yeah. To be hanging on to that guy's coattails as a kid, as an adult, to realize how important he is, was, to this place, to me personally, it was — it's hard to explain, hard to put in words. An actor by trade, a conservationist by conviction. Robert Redford's greatest role here was in safeguarding the land he loved. For CBS Saturday Morning, I'm Janet Chamleon in Sundance, Utah. I just love this story. I just, you know, I think about Robert Redford, because I'm a film buff, and I know you are as well, and all the different roles that he played. He was an iconic movie star, but then this conservation effort that he led is probably his lasting legacy for generations to come. I do find it interesting, though. I mean, are we done, though, with that era where it is okay for actors and singers to cross over? Because a lot of people don't like when folks like that say, well, you know, I also have this other passion, and I'm going to make that project happen. I also have this other passion, and I'm going to make that mark because I have a voice. Yeah, it's interesting. I sort of think that he — when he first tried to do this, people were against it. Right. Now, probably the very same people are so grateful that he undertook that effort. Yeah. Beautiful story from Janet.

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