[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 22, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E685]]
                        TRIBUTE TO MORLEY NELSON

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. BILL SALI

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 22, 2008

  Mr. SALI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a remarkable 
Idahoan and a place in my beautiful home State.
  Today, the House is voting on renaming the Snake River Birds of Prey 
National Conservation Area--right outside my hometown of Kuna, ID--
after a man named Morley Nelson. Morlan W. Nelson--everyone called him 
``Morley''--was born in North Dakota. Morley was fascinated by raptors 
from a young age as he grew up on a ranch in his native State. He 
earned a degree in soil science, engineering and nuclear chemistry from 
North Dakota State in 1938 and went on to serve with great valor as a 
captain in the 10th Mountain Division during the Second World War, the 
same outfit where our esteemed former colleague Bob Dole served with 
such distinction. Morley won a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, and a 
Silver Star for his courage and indomitable spirit.
  Morley moved to Idaho after the War. In 1948, he made his home in 
Boise and began serving as the Columbia Basin's Snow Survey Supervisor 
and pursued his groundbreaking work with such raptors as the golden 
eagle.
  To give a fuller account of Morley's remarkable life, allow me to 
quote from a biography of Morley drafted for the Morley Nelson 
Elementary School in Boise:

       Morley continued his work with raptors and, after 
     relocating to Idaho, became interested in the golden eagle. 
     In 1958 he influenced the State Legislature to enact a law 
     protecting raptors in Idaho. In the early 1960s Morley began 
     working for Walt Disney Production's True Life Adventure 
     Series training falcons, eagles, and hawks. He worked on 
     numerous films with Walt Disney and Paramount Pictures as 
     well as working with Marlin Perkins on the Wild Kingdom 
     television series, and television programs for PBS and other 
     networks. In the 1980s and 1990s Morley participated in many 
     documentaries and videos featuring his birds. In the 1970s 
     and 1980s Morley was instrumental in recognizing the 
     importance of the Snake River Canyon as a haven for birds of 
     prey and with the help of Governor Cecil Andrus, who was then 
     Secretary of the Interior, and others, they establishing the 
     Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area. He also 
     influenced the establishment of the World Center for Birds of 
     Prey in Boise. Morley had a long and productive association 
     with the Idaho Power Company and the Edison Electric 
     Institute to help solve the electrocution of eagles problem. 
     He designed nesting platforms that attach to large 
     transmission lines which have helped to expand the nesting 
     areas of Raptors. His power line corrections and nesting 
     platform designs are now used worldwide.

  Idaho's rich natural heritage is exemplified by the raptors that make 
their homes in the Gem State. Thanks largely to Morley's efforts, 
``Idaho hosts the densest population of nesting raptors in North 
America, and possibly on planet Earth,'' according to writer Lee 
Foster.
  Madam Speaker, on behalf of my great home State, let me say that we 
will remember this wonderful man, exemplary patriot and outstanding 
naturalist.
  I also commend and thank my friend and colleague, Mike Simpson, for 
introducing H.R. 3651, which renames the Snake River Birds of Prey 
National Conservation Area the ``Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of 
Prey National Conservation Area.'' It's a fitting tribute to a great 
Idahoan and a great American.

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