[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 77 (Wednesday, June 6, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1038]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO AUDREY RUST

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 6, 2001

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
distinguished Californian, Audrey Rust, who is being honored by the 
California League of Conservation Voters.
  Audrey Rust has led the Peninsula Open Space Trust (P.O.S.T.) since 
1987, first as Executive Director and now as President. Over the past 
24 years, P.O.S.T. has led the way to protecting over 40,000 acres of 
land on the San Francisco Peninsula. Prior to coming to P.O.S.T., 
Audrey worked with the Sierra Club, Yale University and Stanford 
University. She has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the 
Land Trust Alliance and the League of Conservation Voters in 
Washington, DC, and currently advises many community groups and 
national conservation and civic organizations.
  Under Audrey Rust's leadership, P.O.S.T. has become the most 
respected and effective organization responsible for the permanent 
protection of lands . . . amongst them the Cloverdale Coastal Ranch and 
the Cowell Ranch and Beach. They have raised $33.5 million in private 
gifts for the permanent protection of 12,500 acres in San Mateo and 
Santa Clara Counties.
  Audrey Rust oversees P.O.S.T.'s unique land acquisition strategy, 
which uses a combination of public and private funds. P.O.S.T. 
regularly purchases threatened land with privately-raised funds, then 
sells this land to public agencies in order to preserve them from 
commercial development.
  I'm exceedingly proud to have worked with Audrey Rust to protect the 
1,250-acre Phleger Estate and Bair Island. The Phleger Estate lands are 
now part of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area, and Bair Island 
provides refuge to many endangered species, including the California 
clapper rail and the salt marsh harvest mouse. These lands are part of 
the unique character and heritage of the 14th Congressional District of 
California, which I am proud to represent and they now belong to future 
generations of Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the millions of Californians and Americans 
who have benefited from Audrey Rust's extraordinary leadership and the 
work of P.O.S.T., I ask my colleagues to join me in paying tribute to 
her. She is a great woman, a gifted leader, a sound thinker, a trusted 
friend and a national treasure.

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