[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 13, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S962]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RETIREMENT OF DR. JAMES ALBERT YOUNG

  Mr. REID. Madam President, today I want to recognize and honor an 
individual who has committed much of his life to the preservation of 
Western rangeland and its ecosystems. Dr. James Albert Young retired on 
January 3, 2008, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural 
Research Service after 33 years of dedicated work on issues important 
to the environmental health of the Great Basin.
  The Great Basin is North America's largest desert, encompassing 135 
million acres of land between the Rocky and Sierra Nevada Mountains in 
western North America. It includes parts of Nevada, Utah, Idaho, 
Oregon, and California. Land in the Great Basin is arid, receiving less 
than 12 inches of rain annually. Today, population growth, wildfires, 
and invasive species are reducing the quality of native rangelands at 
an accelerating rate. Recent studies by the U.S. Geological Survey and 
others predict that climate change could well be expected to accelerate 
these changes and associated impacts. Dr. Young's professional life was 
focused on understanding the specific challenges facing the Great 
Basin, finding ways to reverse the trends that threaten its 
environmental health, and educating people about the uniqueness of this 
beautiful land.
  In 1965, Dr. Young started his career with USDA's Agricultural 
Research Service as a range scientist for the range and pasture unit in 
Reno, NV. He served as research leader of that unit from 1986 to 1998 
and was known by many as the ``Encyclopedia of Western Rangelands.'' 
Over the years his expertise and commitment to rangeland issues was 
recognized through various awards, such as United States Department of 
Agriculture Scientist of the Year, Weed Science Society of America 
Award of Excellence, Society for Range Management W. R. Chapline 
Research Award, Outstanding Achievement Award, and Fellow Award, as 
well as the Society for Range Management Nevada Section Researcher of 
the Year Award.
  The State of Nevada awarded Dr. Young with the very first Nevada Weed 
Management Award, which they named the ``James A. Young Award,'' for 
his tireless work on invasive weed management issues. Dr. Young has 
authored and co-authored over 700 scientific articles, including many 
books. His books have received national recognition, some of which 
include ``Collecting, Processing, and Germinating Seeds of Wildland 
Plants;'' ``Endless Tracks in the Woods''; ``Purshia: The Wild and 
Bitter Roses''; and ``Cattle in the Cold Desert.'' Dr. Young recently 
finished a book, ``Cheatgrass: Fire and Forage on the Range,'' which is 
an illustration of the breadth of knowledge that he has on the most 
popular weed in the Intermountain West. It is often stated that Dr. 
Young has probably forgotten more information on the ecology of Western 
rangelands that most people in resource management will ever learn.
  Early in Dr. Young's career he developed the hypothesis that the 
nature and structure of a wildland plant community is largely 
controlled by the process that eliminated the previous plant community 
that occupied the site. Now known as the stand renewal process, this 
hypothesis is one of his ecological trademarks.
  Dr. Young was also an outstanding educator. Over the years, he 
introduced dozens of high school and college students to the field of 
range science, some of whom became Area Directors for the Agricultural 
Research Service. His continued interest in educating natural resource 
specialists, as well as the general public, on science based management 
of Natural Resources has been a tremendous achievement over his career.
  We owe a great debt to individuals like Dr. Young who, make their 
life's work protecting our natural world. Thank you, Dr. Young, for all 
you have done.

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