[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 95 (Monday, July 12, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1358-E1359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      PAYING TRIBUTE TO PAM WILSON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SCOTT McINNIS

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 12, 2004

  Mr. McINNIS. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to pay tribute to Pam 
Wilson and thank her for her work as Fire Information Officer with the 
San Juan Lands Center, a joint office of the U.S. Forest Service and 
Bureau of Land Management in Durango, Colorado. Her years of commitment 
and dedication as a public servant is certainly commendable and worthy 
of

[[Page E1359]]

recognition before this body of Congress and this nation today. I, 
along with my fellow Coloradoans, am grateful for all that she has 
accomplished during her years of service.
  Pam has worked as a Fire Information Officer for the last three 
years, but started her career with the Forest Service in Colorado in 
1979. Over her years with the Forest Service, she has worked as a 
draftsperson, landscape architect, planning assistant, visitor 
information specialist, and now a public affairs specialist.
  In 2002, as Pam was still training, she was thrown into the role of 
being the first fire information officer to work on the Missionary 
Ridge Fire. Pam did an incredible job of providing accurate fire 
information and working with the hundreds of people that were evacuated 
from their homes during the fire. It was her interpersonal skills and 
empathetic feelings and responses that made the difference. Pam 
remained on scene for the duration, taking only minimal breaks away 
from the 16-hour work days experienced during a fire that burned for 39 
days. She also worked on the fire information effort with the Bear 
Creek Wildland Fire Use fire. Pam excels at providing timely and 
constant flow of fire information. Residents of southwestern Colorado 
are kept informed of ongoing fires but more importantly, know what to 
expect in terms of fire potential and how they might take 
responsibility for protecting their health and property. Pam works very 
closely with the counties, State Forest Service and others to explain 
how private parties can mitigate fire risk, and to develop and 
implement plans for reducing these risks.
  The San Juan Public Lands Offices have what is widely recognized as 
one of the very best fire information and fire education programs. Pam 
Wilson plays a very large role in that. Fires such as Missionary Ridge 
often tear a community and intergovernmental relationships apart, but 
the work of Pam, and of course a few others, prior to and during that 
fire resulted in as smooth of an operation as could be imagined. Her 
efforts, as much as anyone else on that fire, made it possible for 
firefighters and managers to focus without distractions on the safety 
of the public and firefighters and the protection of property.
  Mr. Speaker, it is clear that Pam Wilson has been an invaluable 
resource to the San Juan Public Lands Office. It is my honor to 
recognize her service and dedication before this body of Congress and 
this nation. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with dedicated 
public servants like Pam Wilson. On behalf of the citizens that have 
benefited from the hard work and commitment she has given to the U.S. 
Forest Service and the constituents it serves, I extend my appreciation 
for her years of dedicated service.

                          ____________________