[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 129 (Wednesday, November 15, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN HONOR OF WILLIAM WHALEN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NANCY PELOSI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 15, 2006

  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay my final respects to William 
J. Whalen III, a great San Franciscan and a great American who died on 
September 28, 2006. Bill Whalen gave a lifetime of service to our 
National Parks and our Golden Gate National Recreation Area, GGNRA. 
Together with Congressman Phillip Burton and environmentalist Edgar 
Waybum, he preserved and enhanced an area of unsurpassed beauty, 
ecological benefit and recreation for present and future generations. 
The GGNRA is a monument to the tenacity of a handful of leaders and 
interested citizens who struggled to realize their dream.
  Bill Whalen's career began as a youth counselor in the Great Smoky 
Mountain National Park. He moved on to serve as deputy superintendent 
of Yosemite National Park where he implemented a pioneering mass 
transit program to reduce traffic congestion.
  In 1972, only 32 years old, Bill Whalen became the first 
superintendent of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, where he 
embraced the daunting challenge of developing and expanding the GGNRA. 
He masterminded the immense task before him with extraordinary ability 
and innovative planning. He invited politicians, environmentalists and 
residents to collaborate in creating this world-class people's park. 
Bill created a Citizens Advisory Commission to encourage citizen 
participation and public-private partnerships, resulting in 
unprecedented public support and involvement. He transformed Fort Mason 
Center and launched the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy that 
raised over $100 million to implement the GGNRA's plans.
  His great success led to an appointment by President Jimmy Carter in 
1977 as the youngest director of the National Park Service. He believed 
that the American people should have a greater role and voice in 
managing our Nation's parks and directed emphasis on urban parks that 
had previously been ignored. Bill implemented the Alaska Native Lands 
Claims Settlement Act that created 44 national parks and doubled the 
size of national park lands nationwide.
  God blessed San Francisco with a handful of extraordinary leaders and 
a troop of citizens whose teamwork produced the Golden Gate National 
Recreation Area. Rarely do individuals of such caliber, intellect and 
determination converge in one place at one time. With the consummate 
political acumen of Congressman Phillip Burton, the vision of 
environmentalist Edgar Waybum, the executive genius of Bill Whalen, and 
the voice, vigilance and support of citizens led by Amy Meyer, the 
GGNRA flourished and today is the most visited National Park in 
America.
  I offer my deepest sympathy to Mary, Bill Whalen's beloved wife of 47 
years, his sons, William IV, Dennis, Timothy and Michael, and his five 
grandchildren as well as our deepest appreciation for sharing their 
magnificent husband, father and grandfather with us. As they have lost 
a loved one, so the San Francisco Bay Area has lost one of its 
distinguished sons. We will never forget the beauty and riches he 
brought to our lives as well as to future generations.

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