[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 14 (Thursday, February 1, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S733-S734]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO LOWELL KRASSNER

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I rise today in honor of the late Lowell 
Krassner of Burlington, VT, who passed away unexpectedly on January 15, 
1996. As a longtime activist with the Vermont chapter of the Sierra 
Club, Lowell dedicated much of his life and energy to the conservation 
and stewardship of our natural resources--both in Vermont and 
nationally.
  Lowell, together with his wife and partner Diane Geerken, worked 
tirelessly to protect the Vermont they loved, making major 
contributions to the eventual passage of the Vermont Wilderness Act of 
1983 and the Green Mountain National Forest Management Plan of 1986.
  Lowell and Diane functioned as a two-person citizen oversight 
committee, making sure that the actions of State and Federal public 
lands and natural resource managers were carefully reviewed. Indeed, 
friends and colleagues have often remarked how their South Burlington 
home served as both a hub of environmental activism and a Vermont 
conservation archive for so many years.
  Lowell stood as a staunch defender of the Long/Appalachian Trail. He 
could also be both a strong supporter and sharp critic of the U.S. 
Forest Service, depending on the issue at hand.
  In his commitment to the environment, Lowell Krassner also looked 
well beyond the Green Mountains, Lake Champlain, and the Connecticut 
River. He was well read on the various national environmental debates 
of the day--clean water, clean air, endangered species, wetlands, ANWR, 
Forest Service timber policy--and readily shared his views with his 
congressional representatives.
  Lowell was particularly concerned with the recent attacks on our 
Nation's environmental laws represented by such actions as the timber 
salvage rider on the fiscal 1995 rescission legislation. 

[[Page S734]]

  Over the last few years, Lowell immersed himself in the work of the 
Northern Forest Lands Council and strongly supported legislation to 
implement the council's recommendations.
  Lowell Krassner will be truly missed, not only by his family and the 
Vermont chapter of the Sierra Club, but also by those many of us who 
counted on his unswerving commitment and honesty in furthering the 
cause we share--the wise stewardship of our public lands and natural 
resources.

                          ____________________