Richard Iglehart: the Man Behind the Expedition

The Richard Iglehart Wilderness Foundation is a charitable organization whose assets are permanently dedicated to providing educational programs that allow
children and adults to take part in and learn from wilderness experiences. The Foundation is dedicated to the ideals lived by Judge Richard Iglehart: his love of family, friends and the wilderness; his dedication to the community and fair treatment under the law; his understanding that wilderness experiences allow adventurers to test their innate strengths and rely on the strengths of their companions; his belief that the protection of natural landscapes benefits all Americans; and his unequivocal willingness to help and mentor all who asked for his support.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Richard B. "Dick" Iglehart passed away in Istanbul July 2, 2003 while attending a State Department sponsored legal conference. He was 60. From his early childhood, Dick was happiest in the wilderness. As a teenager he worked as a boy's camp counselor in the Feather River Canyon, and returned yearly to the high Sierra or other or with a group to hike and fish. He twice hiked Mt. Shasta. In his 40s, Dick learned white water rafting and sea kayaking, and participated in yearly adventures in the Sea of Cortez in Baja, California, in British Columbia, and in California and Oregon's wild and scenic rivers. For several years, he and close friends would spend time scuba diving and fishing in the Bahamas and in Mexico. During the last month of his life, Dick fulfilled a life long dream of journeying up Alaska's Stikine River following an adventure of one of his heroes, John Muir.

An avid fisherman, hiker, kayaker, sportsman, poker and bridge player, Dick was known for his compassion for those who appeared in court before him and whom he represented as a prosecutor. A graduate of Piedmont High and UC Berkeley
(where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and played Rugby), Dick served in Germany as an Army officer in the 3rd Armored Cavalry before graduating from Santa Clara Law School. He was called to public service by the words of President John F. Kennedy.

For 27 years, Dick was a career prosecutor who served as Chief Assistant District Attorney in Alameda and San Francisco counties, and as Chief Assistant for the Criminal Division for California Attorney General John Van de Kamp. Dick also served in Sacramento for one year as Chief Counsel to the Assembly Public Safety Committee, for several years as the California District Attorney's Association lobbyist, and one term as an Assembly Fellow.

Dick worked unceasingly to rid California and the nation of assault weapons, was instrumental in helping pass legislation lowering penalties for marijuana possession, changing laws affecting the private sexual practices of adults, and making it easier for child sexual assault victims to testify in court. He was an expert on sentencing procedures, California's Three Strikes Law, Proposition 36, and serialkillers, and an early champion for using DNA testing in criminal trials. He taught at Hastings andContinuing Education of the Bar classes, lectured at the FBI Academy, at Berkeley's Center for the Study of Law and Society, spoke often at local high schools, refereed Moot Courts at both high schools and local law schools, served on innumerable civic and community based committees, and coached and mentored scores of young people. Newly appointed as a Judge in 2000, he was assigned to hear cases in Oakland's Drug Court. He held the
assignment for two years, working to further the aims of drugdiversion programs and providing help to those who worked tobecome responsible citizens.

To learn more about the Richard Iglehart Wilderness Foundation, click here.