[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 72 (Friday, June 5, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S5732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNITION OF OSSABAW ISLAND FOUNDATION AND IMPORTANCE OF WORKING TO 
                       PRESERVE NATURAL HABITATS

 Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 
Ossabaw Island Foundation and the Georgia Commissioner of Natural 
Resources for their efforts to preserve Ossabaw Island, Georgia's first 
Heritage Preserve.
  Georgia's high rate of population and economic growth have created 
statewide expansion into previously uninhabited areas. Efforts to 
preserve and protect endangered natural areas is vital to the well 
being of Georgia's environment.
  Ossabaw Island is one of the few remaining barrier islands on the 
Atlantic Coast. The fragile ecosystems of the island should be 
preserved so that natural areas along the coast will work to protect 
estuaries, wildlife, marshes, and coastal shorelines. If Ossabaw Island 
remains in its natural state, it will provide needed protection for the 
mainland from Atlantic storms, permit the functioning of marshes which 
provide water and air purification essential to habitation of Georgia's 
mainland, and provide conditions not tainted by human intervention for 
environmental research.
  I would like to commend the Ossabaw Island Foundation, a public/
private partner with the State of Georgia's Department of Natural 
Resources, for diligently serving as a voice for the preservation of 
the island. The Foundation has worked to incorporate educational and 
cultural programs in the island's historical buildings and to provide 
appropriate access and utilization of the Ossabaw Heritage Preserve.
  Through the efforts of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation, 
Ossabaw Island was included on the National Trust for Historic 
Preservation's Eleven Most Endangered Properties List of 1995. The 
island was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places by 
the United States Department of the Interior in 1996.
  The importance of preserving natural habitats is a common belief 
among the members of the Senate. We must not allow the natural beauty 
and resourcefulness of our nation to be sacrificed for lesser purposes. 
The benefits of protecting and preserving areas of natural habitat 
range from aesthetic to practical and must not be ignored.
  Mr. President, I ask that you and my colleagues join me in 
recognizing the partnership and hard work of the Georgia Commissioner 
of Natural Resources and the Board of Trustees of the Ossabaw Island 
Foundation. Their combined efforts have protected and will continue to 
protect and ensure a beautiful environment on Georgia's Ossabaw Island 
for many years to come.

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