[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 148 (Tuesday, December 5, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11565-S11566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              DAVID BROWER

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today, I note with sadness the 
passing of David Brower, a great conservationist who died last month at 
his home in Berkeley, California. David Brower worked for more than 
half a century to preserve and protect the American landscape he loved 
so well. He served our nation in war and peacetime as a soldier, 
writer, and activist, and enriched the lives of many Americans.
  Born in Berkeley in 1912, young David Brower learned to appreciate 
nature by guiding his blind mother on walks through the Berkeley hills. 
In the 1930s, he worked at Yosemite National Park and became a skilled 
mountaineer. During World War II he trained troops in climbing 
techniques, wrote the Army's alpine manual, and fought in northern 
Italy.
  After the war he returned to California and volunteered at the Sierra 
Club, which was then a hiking organization with little involvement in 
public policy. After writing the first Sierra Club Manual, he became 
the club's first executive director in 1952. Under his leadership, the 
club's membership grew from 7,000 to 70,000 as it became the nation's 
leading environmental organization. After leading the Sierra Club for 
17 years, Mr. Brower went on to found the Friends of the Earth and the 
Earth Island Institute, and he helped to establish the League of 
Conservation Voters.

[[Page S11566]]

  During the 1950s and 1960s, Mr. Brower led the Sierra Club's 
successful efforts to block the construction of dams in Grand Canyon 
National Park and Dinosaur National Monument. He often said, half 
jokingly, that ``All I have been able to do in my career is to slow the 
rate at which things get worse.''
  But in fact he made things better. David Brower was instrumental in 
the creation of Redwoods National Park, North Cascades National Park, 
and Cape Cod National Seashore as well as the passage of the Wilderness 
Act and establishment of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
  Our Nation has lost a giant, but we must try to walk in his 
footsteps. David Brower's life and legacy will live as long as we 
continue to preserve, protect, and enjoy America's natural 
treasures.

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