[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 83 (Tuesday, June 27, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5878-S5879]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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         THE PASSING OF VERMONT CONSERVATIONIST, JUSTIN BRANDE

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I rise to call the Senate's 
attention to a recent tribute to the late Justin Brande authored by 
Professor Carl Reidel of the University of Vermont.
  In his article, Professor Reidel captures the spirit of one of the 
most influential pioneers of 20th Century Vermont environmental 
stewardship. Justin Brande of Cornwall was among the founders of the 
Lake Champlain Committee and the Vermont Natural Resources Council, two 
of the most enduring and effective conservation organizations in our 
state.
  Vermonters committed to stewardship of the land, to clean water and 
to family farms owe a debt to Justin Brande. He was a leader in organic 
agriculture and a selfless volunteer for countless community and 
stewardship organizations who earned the sincere respect of all.
  I request that the text of Dr. Reidel's article be prined in the 
Record and note that his words serve as a wonderful reminder of a life 
well led and a

[[Page S5879]]

Vermonter whose legacy will nurture future generations. Vermont has 
been greatly improved because of both Justin Brande and Carl Reidel.

  [From the Sunday Rutland (VT) Herald/the Times Argus, May 14, 2000]

                  Brande Exemplifies Secret of Vermont

                            (By Carl Reidel)

       ``What's Vermont's secret?'' a friend in Minnesota asked 
     after I gave a talk in 1975 about Vermont's innovative 
     environmental laws. He couldn't understand how such a small 
     state could be ``so creative, even bold.''
       I replied that I didn't know. I had only lived in Vermont 
     two years.
       I'm confident now that I know the secret of Vermont. It is 
     people like Justin Brande, who lived in Cornwall from 1951 
     until he died on April 11 at the age of 83. Like so many who 
     come to live in Vermont from elsewhere, Justin and Susan 
     Brande knew they were coming home when they moved here. And 
     the Vermont Constitution asserts that they are real 
     Vermonters: ``Every person of good character, who comes to 
     settle in this State . . . shall be deemed a free denizen 
     thereof, and entitled to all rights of a natural born subject 
     of this state . . .'' (Chapter II, 66).
       After graduating from Williams College and several years of 
     legal studies, Justin married Susan Kennedy and moved to 
     Vermont. They settled on a dairy farm in Cornwall, where they 
     raised eight children. In the late '60's Justin sold their 
     herd and enrolled at the University of Vermont, where he 
     earned a master's degree in resource economics. He continued 
     to work his land, honing the ability to farm organically long 
     before most people heard of ``organic'' agriculture. I can't 
     guess how many people he taught over the years to make 
     compost and garden in ways that made pesticides and chemical 
     fertilizers unnecessary by drawing on the inherent health of 
     the land.
       Early on Justin became involved in his community as a 
     relentless advocate for the land--a free denizen who may have 
     participated in the founding of more Vermont environmental 
     institutions than anyone I have known. And always as a 
     volunteer. He has been a delegate or alternate on the 
     Addison County Regional Planning Commission since its 
     founding. He helped establish the Lake Champlain 
     Committee, and was a founder and the first director of the 
     Vermont Natural Resources Council.
       In recent years he co-founded the Smallholders Association, 
     which advocates ownership of small, sustainable farms and 
     businesses. Once again, he was ahead of others in seeing the 
     dangers of large enterprises out of scale with Vermont. He 
     argued that his call for moderation and limits was ``not 
     nostalgia for the past, but a real workable model for today 
     and the future * * * a truly humane, democratic and 
     sustainable society.''
       Former Sen. Art Gibb recalls him as ``a man ahead of his 
     time, a voice crying in the wilderness'' in his advocacy for 
     land protection. Gov. Deane Davis who, with Gibb, crafted Act 
     250, said of him that ``although a staunch environmentalist, 
     he came to problems open-minded until all the evidence was 
     in. Then he took his stand. Justin got me started, and kept 
     after me until Act 250 was signed into law.''
       My first encounter with Justin was shortly after I came to 
     UVM in 1972 to direct the new Environmental Program. One of 
     the first to teach in the program, his courses seemed to 
     cover everything from cosmology to composting, with no 
     student surviving without new respect for the English 
     language and permanent doubts about conventional economics.
       When he offered a course in ``organic gardening''--the 
     first at UVM--the dean of the College of Agriculture chided 
     me for allowing such ``nonsense'' in a classroom. It wasn't 
     the first or last time that Justin Brande defined 
     conventional thinking.
       The secret of Vermont exemplified in Justin Brande's life 
     is not, however, to be found in this summary of his 
     accomplishments. Rather, it is in the words of the 
     Constitution, which define a free denizen of Vermont as a 
     ``person of good character.'' Justin passed the test in every 
     way.
       He was a person of unusual integrity--a man who lived his 
     convictions, every day, in every place. Never a traitor to 
     his beliefs, Justin taught me and many others by example the 
     deeper meanings of personal integrity.
       He was a man of courage who was himself in the presence of 
     anyone, be it a fellow farmer, college president, governor or 
     member of Congress. Friend or foe did not daunt him, because 
     he always put principle above reputation.
       He was a man who cared enormously, for family and friends, 
     for Vermont, for Lake Champlain, for land and life itself. 
     Justin and I enjoyed a good debate. We could disagree 
     strongly, but never with an unkind word.
       Once, at the end of a lively discussion, he said to me: 
     ``What I like about you, Reidel, is that you are often in 
     error, but never in doubt.''
       I have no doubts whatsoever that the secret of Vermont is 
     people like Justin Brande, the every-day denizens who are the 
     real heroes of this state.

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