[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 6, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E473-E474]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 TRIBUTE TO KAREN FANT: CONSERVATIONIST AND DEFENDER OF OUR WILD LANDS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JAY INSLEE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 6, 2007

  Mr. INSLEE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Ms. Karen 
Fant, who devoted

[[Page E474]]

her life to preserving wilderness and wildlife in Alaska and the 
Pacific Northwest. We mourn the loss of such a treasured 
conservationist and pioneer in the Washington state environmental 
movement. She spent four decades organizing for conservation, working 
for groups including the Alaska Coalition, Sierra Club, Olympic Park 
Associates, Wild Sky Working Group, Washington Wilderness Coalition, 
and Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition. Her activism spanned many years, 
crossed state lines, and extended as far as Chongqing, China, where she 
dedicated herself to developing a strategy to address environmental 
degradation in Asia as a board member of the Seattle- Chongquing Sister 
City Association.
  Born in Altadena, California, Karen grew to cherish wilderness at an 
early age, spending her childhood hiking the Sierra Nevada Mountains 
with her family. She continued this passion, earning a degree in 
geology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formally beginning 
her long legacy of protecting our wild forests, Karen first went to 
work for the Sierra Club in the 1970s, fighting for roadless forest 
preservation. In 1979, she cofounded the Washington Wilderness 
Coalition, an organization dedicated to empowering Washington state 
citizens to preserve and restore wilderness areas through grassroots 
advocacy and public education.
  Karen once said, ``We will continue to work on these issues as long 
as there is wild land left in the country.'' Friends have described her 
as selfless, caring, inspirational, effective, dedicated, wise, humble 
and relentless in organizing and empowering people to speak up for the 
wild places in America and around the world. Karen was the epitome of 
the dedicated and effective activist. She touched the lives of 
countless individuals throughout the Northwest. She had a knack for 
recognizing everyone's ability to make a difference, and encouraged 
people to stand up and speak out for what they believe in. She was 
never the loudest person in the room, but often the most effective 
voice at bringing people and ideas together to advance the protection 
of wilderness and the wild creatures that depend on it. She delighted 
in walking in wild, unspoiled places and bringing others out to 
experience the serenity, joy, and splendor of wilderness. Because of 
her work, the conservation community in Washington has been left with 
an immense knowledge of what is at stake as we fight to protect the 
wilderness areas that remain in the United States.
  Karen was instrumental in passing the 1984 Washington State 
Wilderness Act, which sets aside over one million acres of new 
wilderness. She also initiated the efforts to preserve Wild Sky. She 
organized to protect the Owyhees Canyonlands in Idaho and the Arctic 
National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Finally, she organized in support 
of a bill that is close to my heart, The National Forest Roadless Area 
Conservation Act. Passage of this bill is vital to protect areas in the 
national forest deemed as roadless and ensure that they remain free 
from development or devastation. As the original sponsor of this bill, 
I encourage you to support the protection of our national forests.
  This spring, Karen's ashes will be spread among some of her favorite 
wilderness areas in the North Cascades and Sierras Nevadas, areas that 
continue to need protection to this day. Here in the U.S. Congress, I 
cannot imagine a better way to honor Karen's conservation legacy than 
for my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 866, the Wild Sky 
Wilderness Act of 2007, which will be marked up in the Natural 
Resources Committee this week. This bill would serve to protect and 
expand the federal wilderness of the Skykomish River Valley in 
Washington State and ensure that ecosystems and stunning vistas in this 
area are enjoyed by people and wild creatures for generations to come. 
Passage of this legislation would be the perfect tribute to Karen's 
legacy.
  If Congress could merely echo the unwavering efforts of this woman, 
we would no doubt be doing a great service to our children and 
grandchildren in ensuring there are wild lands for them to enjoy far 
into the future.

                          ____________________