[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 45 (Wednesday, April 22, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E617]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE REAL McCOYS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 22, 1998

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and Colleagues, I rise before you today to 
honor Michael and Patricia McCoy, two tireless advocates for the 
environment who recently received the National Wetlands Award for their 
volunteer leadership from the Environmental Law Institute.
  The National Wetlands Award, also co-sponsored by the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, the National Resources Conservation 
Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Marine 
Fisheries Service, recognizes outstanding individuals who have 
demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to the conservation and 
restoration of the nation's wetlands.
  The McCoys certainly qualify! In a region where the majority of 
wetlands have been lost to dredging, filling, and other activities, the 
McCoys' two-decades of activism to preserve and protect the Tijuana 
Estuary is a remarkable achievement. With their vision and boundless 
dedication to this cause, Mike and Pat have organized community 
support, educated the public about wetland resources, and shaped local 
policy to protect wetlands for future generations. The McCoys have 
enabled us to leave a living, vibrant legacy to all our children in the 
San Diego and Tijuana areas.
  As was said in their nomination for the award, ``the Tijuana River 
National Estuarine Research Reserve owes its existence to the McCoys. 
Destined to become a marina in the 1970s, this 2,500-acre reserve now 
includes a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge for Endangered 
Species, Border Field State Park, an outdoor research lab, and a 
visitor center that highlights the estuary's wildlife.''
  In 1979, the McCoys founded the Southwest Wetlands Interpretive 
Association, dedicated to the protection and acquisition of wetlands 
and to public education. The Association's volunteers today help staff 
the Tijuana Estuary Visitor Center. The McCoys, the Association and its 
subsidiary, the Friends of South Bay Wildlife, are currently working to 
establish about 2,400 acres of salt ponds and wetlands as a National 
Wildlife Refuge in San Diego Bay.
  Mike and Pat's activities involving the Tijuana Estuary and south San 
Diego wetlands are too numerous to list, but they include Pat McCoy's 
supervision, as a volunteer, of the construction of a tidal restoration 
channel and a U.S. Navy mitigation project to remove concrete from the 
Estuary. Mike's strong research background is instrumental in 
strengthening linkages with local universities and creating a unique 
partnership with San Diego State University resulting in the Estuary 
being a field station of the university. They have served on or helped 
to create almost every committee or board that guides the Estuary's 
fate.
  From 1983 to 1993, the McCoys helped build a novel wastewater 
treatment and recovery system in Tijuana, Mexico to treat raw sewage 
that would otherwise flow north into the Tijuana Estuary. This project 
became a model for alternative treatment demonstrating water reuse in 
desert climates and developing countries.
  I know that Mike and Pat McCoy believe that a thriving wetland is the 
only reward and testament to their efforts that is needed. Their 
volunteer work, however, goes so far above and beyond the call of duty, 
that it is past time to recognize the McCoys with this impressive 
national award. I want to thank these dedicated visionaries on behalf 
of all of the people of San Diego County and beyond who will appreciate 
the beauty of these wetlands. These are the real McCoys!

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