[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 68 (Tuesday, June 6, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4561-S4562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO MARC KOENINGS

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to an 
accomplished and respected steward of our National Park System, Marc 
Koenings, Superintendent of Assateague Island National Seashore. Marc 
has recently been selected to head Gateway National Recreation Area in 
New York and New Jersey and I want to wish him well with this important 
new assignment and thank him for the terrific job he did in managing 
Assateague over the past seven years.
  Throughout his 29-year career in public service, Marc Koenings has 
distinguished himself as a leader in natural and cultural resource 
management and conservation at the local, national and international 
levels. Beginning with the Peace Corps in 1971, Marc also served for 
nine years in a variety of positions with the Heritage Recreation and 
Conservation Service before joining the National Park Service. He 
quickly advanced to top management jobs in four Parks including Golden 
Gate National Recreation Area, Point Reyes National Seashore and Virgin 
Islands National Park where he made substantial contributions to 
improving park facilities, protecting park resources and developing 
highly professional work forces.
  I came to know Marc in 1993 shortly after he came to Maryland from 
Virgin Islands National Park. I had invited Interior Secretary Bruce 
Babbitt to join me on a tour of Assateague Island and to officially 
dedicate the Beach-to-Bay Indian Trail as a National Recreational 
Trail. Marc served as host and Master of Ceremonies for the visit and I 
was immediately impressed not only by his professionalism, but by the 
knowledge and vision which he had for Assateague after such a short 
period on the job. Over the past seven years, I have had the 
opportunity and privilege to work closely with Superintendent Koenings 
and members of his staff at Assateague in efforts to restore the north 
end of the island, construct a new pedestrian/bicycle bridge, protect 
the seashore from encroaching development, and develop the new Coastal 
Ecology Teaching and Research Laboratory. I know from personal 
experience that these initiatives would not be taking place, but for 
his persistent efforts, energy and innovation. In addition to these 
projects, under Marc's leadership, Assateague's barrier island visitors 
center was expanded and improved, a new Administrative facility was 
constructed, and new partnerships were formed to develop water trails 
and promote other eco-tourism opportunities in the area.
  The efforts of Marc Koenings throughout his career in the National 
Park Service have had a lasting effect not only on the parks he has 
worked to protect, but on the people with whom he has come in contact. 
He has earned the respect and admiration of his colleagues in the Park 
Service as well as the visitors and citizens in the local communities 
surrounding the parks. It is my firm conviction that public service is 
one of the most honorable callings, one that demands the very best, 
most dedicated efforts of those who have the opportunity to serve their 
fellow citizens and country. Throughout his career Marc Koenings has 
exemplified a steadfast commitment to meeting this demand. I want to 
extend my personal congratulations and thanks for his many years of 
hard work and dedication to the principal conservation mission of the 
National Park Service and join with his friends and coworkers in 
wishing him and his family well with his new endeavors.

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