[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 108 (Thursday, June 29, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S9346]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  THE SITZ FAMILY RECEIVES THE MONTANA ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AWARD

  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, Donna Sitz and her adult children--son Bob 
and his wife Jennipher, son Jim, and daughter Sherrie and her husband 
Mark Stokman were recognized for enhancing the natural resources and 
contributing to wildlife diversity on their ranch. Their registered 
Angus seedstock operation in the Madison Valley of southwestern Montana 
is nationally recognized for excellent cattle. And now they've been 
recognized for their stewardship as well. The Montana Stockgrowers just 
awarded the Sitz family their Montana Environmental Stewardship Award.
  Among the many projects they completed to enhance the Montana 
environment include:
  They planted thousands of trees along streambanks to help stabilize 
riparian areas.
  They obtained a grant from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, 
and Parks to enhance spawning habitat for trout on their private land. 
The project has made significant improvements in three major spawning 
areas, increasing fish numbers and enhancing water quality.
  They have improved the vegetation of their grazing lands by using a 
rest rotation grazing system, intensive grazing, controlled burns, and 
weed spraying.
  It's always an honor for me to recognize Montanans who stand for 
everything we all should be doing, working hard and doing all you can 
to improve your local environment. One of the well known environmental 
slogans states ``we should think globally and act locally''. The Sitz 
family is doing exactly that, improving their local water quality and 
wildlife habitat, and by their actions they improve not only their 
ranch but the environment under Montana's big sky. What a wonderful 
example for all of our ranchers and farmers all across the Nation.
  Donna Sitz credited her late husband Bob Sitz, who was tragically 
killed in a tractor accident in 1989 for the family's commitment to 
stewardship. Donna said, ``Bob was a strong conservationist. I want the 
kids to be like their father, to run an honest outfit, and to leave 
things better than they found them.'' But let's also credit Donna for 
carrying on her husband's legacy, saving the ranch, and obviously 
raising an outstanding family to carry on.
  I congratulate Donna and her family, for being recognized for this 
stewardship award. And I thank them for the shinning example they set 
for all of us to follow.


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