[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 127 (Friday, August 3, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                A TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE OF MELVIN B. LANE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 3, 2007

  Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise today 
to honor a distinguished American, a trusted friend and constituent, 
Melvin B. Lane, who passed away on July 28, 2007 at the age of 85.
  Mel Lane was born in 1922 in Des Moines, Iowa, and moved to San 
Francisco in 1928 with his family when his father purchased Sunset 
Magazine, a travel magazine. He graduated from Palo Alto High School 
and Pomona College and earned his Bachelor's Degree from Stanford 
University. He married the love of his life, Joan Fletcher Lane, and 
they had two beautiful daughters, Whitney and Julie.
  Mel returned home after serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II 
and began working for Lane Publishing Co. and Sunset Magazine and 
Books. He and his brother, Ambassador L.W. ``Bill'' Lane, ran Lane 
Publishing for nearly 40 years, during which they helped make Sunset a 
national leader in advertising and transformed the book division into a 
major enterprise with hundreds of successful titles.
  In 1965, Mel was drawn into environmental politics when then-Governor 
Pat Brown appointed him to the post of Chairman of the newly-
established San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, 
a partnership of industry, government and the environmental community. 
Under Mel's strong leadership, the Commission established and 
implemented a plan to govern use of San Francisco Bay, which supports 
one of the Nation's busiest ports as well as a wide variety of fish and 
wildlife. His success on the Commission led to his appointment by 
Governor Ronald Reagan in 1972 as the first Chairman of the California 
Coastal Commission. The San Francisco Bay Plan and the California 
Coastal Plan, both of which were developed under Mel's leadership, 
still serve to this day as the blueprint for coastal protection around 
the world. Throughout his tenure on the Commission, Mel was an 
extraordinary advocate for environmental protection, always arguing 
that it was crucial to a healthy economy.
  After retiring from the Commission in 1977, Mel continued his 
conservation work with the Peninsula Open Space Trust, the World 
Wildlife Fund, and he helped to establish the California Environmental 
Trust. He also served as a Trustee at Stanford University from 1981 to 
1991, where he created an environmental institute and led efforts to 
establish a long-range land-use plan on campus in addition to 
rebuilding Stanford Memorial Church after the Loma Prieta earthquake. 
He also chaired the Sierra Club's National Advisory Committee, the 
California Fund for the Environment and the Conservation Foundation. In 
1998, he was named Conservationist of the Year by the California League 
of Conservation Voters.

  Mel was well-known amongst his friends and colleagues for his 
loyalty, his reliability and his quiet strength which he brought to 
everything he did. He was a man of great integrity and everyone who 
knew him came away a better person.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring a national 
treasure and an exemplary American who changed the way we think about 
conservation. Mel Lane was a beloved husband, devoted father and 
trusted friend. He loved his community and his country, served both 
with distinction, making our Nation a better place for generations to 
come.

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