[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 25, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1350]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING DR. JAN VAN WAGTENDONK

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 25, 2003

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Jan van 
Wagtendonk, who recently received the 2002 Excellence in Wilderness 
Stewardship Research Award. Van Wagtendonk was presented the award on 
June 12, 2003 at the Forest Service's 2002 National Wilderness Awards 
ceremony in Arlington, VA.
  Dr. Wagtendonk has been involved in wilderness science for over 30 
years. Van Wagtendonk grew up in Indiana where he studied forestry at 
Purdue University. During the summer, he worked as a smokejumper for 
the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. This led him 
to Oregon State University where he received his B.S. in Forest 
Management. He then served four and a half years in the U.S. Army as an 
officer in the 101st Airborne Division where he was also an advisor to 
the Vietnamese army. He entered graduate school at University of 
California, Berkeley where he received his M.S. in Range Management and 
his Ph.D. in Wildland Resource Science with a specialty in fire 
ecology. From 1972 through 1993, van Wagtendonk was a research 
scientist with the National Park Service at Yosemite National Park. 
Since then he has been a research scientist with the U.S. Geological 
Survey. In 2001, van Wagtendonk was chosen to be an invited speaker at 
the 7th World Wilderness Congress held in South Africa.
  Through his extensive research, interagency wilderness programs in 
the Sierra Nevadas have improved greatly. His contributions have not 
only helped in Yosemite, but across the country, with his work on fuels 
dynamics, fire prescriptions, remote sensing and the application of 
geographic information systems to fire management. The techniques 
developed through van Wagtendonk's work have been used in the 
wildernesses of national forests in Oregon, North Carolina and 
California. Dr. David Parsons nominated van Wagtendonk for this because 
``his dedication to providing sound science to the challenging dilemmas 
facing wilderness managers in Yosemite and across the country is 
unparalleled.''
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing Dr. Jan 
van Wagtendonk for his significant and steadfast efforts to preserve 
and manage the wilderness of the United States.

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