[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 54 (Tuesday, May 5, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E763]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN MEMORY OF AL McNABNEY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 5, 1998

  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, it was with great sadness that 
I learned of the passing of Al McNabney last week. I knew Al well, 
enjoyed our conversations and highly regarded his opinions on local and 
national concerns. California has lost a tireless leader whose many 
contributions as an environmental activist will be remembered and 
revered by the citizens of Contra Costa County and all who knew him.
  Al McNabney was an outstanding citizen whose passion for the 
environment began with an interest in birds and later developed into 
active memberships with a variety of advisory councils and 
environmental organizations, including his service as Vice President of 
Conservation for the Mt. Diablo Audubon Society. Al is remembered as a 
respected source of information about most conservation issues, and he 
wrote may letters to me about his personal enviromental concerns and 
pending legislative policy issues. His vision for the development of 
the Delta Science Center, a state-of-the-art facility for environmental 
research, education and recreation, will soon become a reality and a 
valuable resource for the citizens of my district.
  My heart goes out to Al's wife Helen, to whom Al was married for 57 
years, his family and his friends. Al will be sorely missed, but his 
contributions toward environmental conservation will be enjoyed for 
generations to come. I ask that the following article from the Contra 
Costa Times, ``Al McNabney Battled for Nature in East Bay'' be printed 
below in the Congressional Record.

               [From the Contra Costa Times, May 3, 1998]

               Al McNabney Battled for Nature in East Bay

                        (By Abby Collins Sears)

       Walnut Creek.--There may never be another environmentalist 
     like Al McNabney in Contra Costa County, say friends, fellow 
     advocates and even opponents.
       The man was synonymous with environmentalism in the East 
     Bay. He died Friday morning of natural causes.
       Al belonged to more environmental organizations, projects 
     and advisory councils than Heather Farm Park has trees, the 
     Delta has islands or Mount Diablo has trails, he said in a 
     January interview. He knew because he monitored them for more 
     than two decades.
       ``He was a great environmental warrior,'' said Walnut Creek 
     resident Steve Barbata, who knew Al for 12 years after 
     meeting him at an environmental event.
       ``Even before that, I was always aware of his eminent 
     presence,'' he said. ``He made the environment more tolerable 
     for all life forms.''


                            Heavily Involved

       Funny thing was, Al rarely got outdoors.
       In his later years, the Rossmoor resident used most of his 
     energy to read land-use studies, attend meetings and write 
     letters. On average, he wrote more than 25 letters a week to 
     developers, politicians and public agencies. He also 
     subscribed to 37 conservation publications and would read 
     every page.
       When one saw Al in action at a city planning commission or 
     the county Board of Supervisors meeting, you would know that 
     was no exaggeration. He would spew facts and figures at 
     bullet speed--without forgetting to flash a smile.
       ``He was exceptionally competent and always very 
     thorough,'' said Martinez resident Ted Radke, a member of the 
     East Bay Regional Park District board. ``He earned a great 
     deal of respect from everybody he came into contact with, 
     whether people agreed with him or not.''


                            Defusing tension

       Several people commented that one of Al's greatest talents 
     was infusing dry humor into heated discussions.
       ``He would defuse steamy or difficult situations with 
     humor,'' Barbata said. ``He knew people learned better 
     through humor than pointed criticism. He was a master of 
     it.''
       His presentation were often facetious. He often gave a 
     spiel about the bugs and bees, birds and flowers, water and 
     soil, animals and trees--yet steely facts would glint through 
     the friendly fluff.
       Al's passion to save the county's natural milieu from 
     eradication began about 30 years ago with a simple affinity 
     for a bird. Every day, he passed the pet shop near his former 
     San Francisco home. Eventually he made regular stops to 
     admire one bird--a green Amazon parrot.
       One day the owner suggested Al take it out of the cage. It 
     bit him. But the owner said he handled the bird very well. So 
     he bought that parrot, and soon after, another.


                             Love of birds

       Al then read everything he could about parrots, an interest 
     that expanded to other birds.
       He even took a job studying hospital systems in Australia 
     so he and his wife, Helen, could spend their free time 
     studying the country's native species.
       Al and Helen were two lovebirds themselves. Even after 57 
     years of marriage, they still exchanged affectionate glances 
     and coy grins. Helen matched Al's clever witticisms with her 
     own gentle quips.
       She said she appreciated numerous qualities about him, but 
     was shy about commenting on her husband out of respect for 
     his humble and private character.
       Helen's only half complaint was having to put up with his 
     bird Coco, a talkative African gray parrot that he had for 
     more than 30 years. She and Coco could never hold a 
     conversation.


                       Volunteered after retiring

       After retiring in the late 1970s, Al said he had nothing 
     better to do so he volunteered with the Mt. Diablo Audubon 
     Society. It was the beginning of his environmental work.
       ``They sounded like they had something to do with birds, 
     and by then I was pretty well steeped into bird life,'' he 
     had said in the interview earlier this year.
       The organization made Al vice president of conservation, 
     and he fought to maintain ecological equilibrium ever after. 
     That involvement sprouted into other environmentally related 
     issues, such as overseeing effects of Tosco refinery 
     emissions, and developing the Delta Science Center, a 
     proposed research, education and recreation facility that 
     became his pet project the past five years.
       ``He called it a world-class center,'' said Radke, the park 
     district board member. ``He wanted everyone involved with it 
     to think big. It was a dream of his, which will someday soon 
     become a reality.''


                            Many memberships

       Al was also a member of the Sierra Club, CalFed, Advocates 
     for Bird Conservation, Committee for the American Federation 
     of Aviculture, Commission for Endangered and Exotic Species, 
     Committee on the Conservation on International Trade and 
     Endangered Species, and the Lindsay Wildlife Museum. Al also 
     watched over practically every development plan proposed in 
     Contra Costa, making him the county's environmental 
     conscience.
       He said he had lived so long that his many lives all helped 
     in his role as an effective activist. Al was a hospital 
     administrator for medical facilities in San Francisco and 
     Tucson, Ariz., and he was once a labor leader and belonged to 
     the American Arbitration Association.


                            Modest activist

       But when asked about other accomplishments, he was always 
     self-effacing.
       ``There's not a huge rush of people wanting the job and the 
     environment is going to pot in a hand basket,'' he said a few 
     months ago. ``As long as I can negotiate, talk and walk I'm 
     going to keep doing it.''
       Helen said there will be no services because her modest 
     husband wouldn't have wanted it. She plans to privately 
     scatter his ashes.
       ``I thought of doing it in the Delta or Shell marsh or 
     maybe Mount Diablo,'' Helen said. ``I'll have to really think 
     about it because he truly loved all those areas so much.''



     

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