[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 73 (Thursday, May 4, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S6146]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                          MARJORIE S. ARUNDEL

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a most 
distinguished Virginian, Mrs. Marjorie S. Arundel, of The Plains, VA, 
who has devoted her life to the conservation of our natural resources.
  As a member of the Garden Club of America, Marjorie Arundel has been 
recognized for her conservation efforts in the Commonwealth of Virginia 
and across our Nation. Her tireless work has throughout more than 30 
years contributed much to preserve and enhance the natural beauty.
  I have had the pleasure of knowing both Mrs. Arundel and her late 
husband, Russell M. Arundel, for a number of years in Fauquier County. 
The contributions which they have made to that community are 
immeasurable.
  In the 1960's, the Arundel family donated over 600 acres of their own 
land to the Nature Conservancy, which created the first Nature 
Conservancy preserve in Virginia. It is now known as Wildcat Mountain 
Natural Area. Due to her endeavors in conservation, Mrs. Arundel was 
awarded the Governor's Certificate of Recognition from former Gov. 
Charles Robb, my junior colleague in the Senate.
  There are several projects that are trademark Marjorie Arundel with 
her typical ingenuity and spirit. I recall fondly meeting with Mrs. 
Arundel in the 1980's regarding a highway widening north of Warrenton. 
Mrs. Arundel promptly brought to my attention a 200-year-old oak tree 
which stood directly in the proposed roadway. In an effort to spare the 
tree, Mrs. Arundel then met with officials from the Virginia Department 
of Transportation, who agreed to bypass the removal of the tree. Today, 
that ``Loretta Oak'' stands proudly and continues to live and be 
enjoyed by all.
  As a gardener with a special interest in wild plants, Mrs. Arundel 
became aware that several species were being dug out of the wild and 
sold to commercial interests. These actions created serious wildflower 
depletions in the Virginia mountainside and our neighboring States. Her 
crusade to protect the wild populations from both trade domestic and 
abroad was truly a labor of love. Using her trademark ingenuity, Mrs. 
Arundel drafted the support of World Wildlife Fund, the Natural 
Resources Defense Council, and the Garden Club of America.
  And with similar success, Mrs. Arundel has taken on other tough 
environmentally conscious issues, like pesticide and pollution abuses 
in the environment.
  Mrs. Arundel's achievements include the Award of Honor presented by 
the World Wildlife Fund; an American Achievement Medal from the Garden 
Club of America; a Stewardship of the Land Award from the Virginia 
Chapter of the America Society of Landscape Architects; Communicator of 
the Year Award from the American Horticultural Society; and the Delacy 
Gray Memorial Medal for Conservation as ``a conservation leader who 
demonstrates a love for the nature environment and a responsibility for 
its preservation.''
  There are many accolades bestowed upon this great lady, but ``The 
Land Ethic'' well speaks to Marjorie Arundel's testimony to natural 
integrity as, ``Conservation is a state of harmony between men and 
land.''


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