[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 16 (Wednesday, February 1, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E103]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        RECOGNIZING WILL TRAVIS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 1, 2012

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my 
colleagues, Congressman Pete Stark, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, 
Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, Congresswoman 
Barbara Lee, Congressman Mike Thompson, Congressman Mike Honda, 
Congressman Jerry Mcnerney, Congresswoman Jackie Speier, and 
Congressman John Garamendi to recognize Will Travis, Executive Director 
of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) 
of 17 years, as he retires after 42 years of public service.
  Will ``Tray'' Travis, holds a Bachelor of Architecture and a Master 
of Regional Planning degree from Pennsylvania State University. From 
1970 to 1972 he served as BCDC's first Bay Development Design Analyst, 
after which he spent 12 years with the California Coastal Commission, 
holding a number of positions, including heading the agency's offshore 
oil drilling permit staff, directing its public access program, and 
overseeing its budget and administrative functions. He returned to BCDC 
in 1985 as Deputy Director and was later appointed Executive Director 
in 1995.
  Travis has written many articles on coastal issues, has provided 
advice on coastal matters to other states and nations, and has been a 
university lecturer throughout North America. He was appointed Chairman 
of the Shell Oil Spill Litigation Settlement Trustee Committee, which 
administered a multimillion dollar settlement fund to settle claims 
resulting from a 1988 oil spill. In that capacity, he spearheaded the 
public acquisition of 10,000 acres of privately owned salt ponds along 
the northern shoreline of the San Francisco Bay in one of the largest 
coastal wetland restoration projects in California's history.
  Over the years Travis has been a tremendous leader in protecting San 
Francisco Bay while balancing the difficult roles of conservation and 
development. He has established himself as a leading advocate for a 
regional strategy to address climate change and sea level rise in the 
Bay Area. My colleagues and I, as well as over 7 million residents in 
the Bay Area, owe him a great debt of gratitude for protecting our 
quality of life.
  Travis was the 2009 recipient of the Jean Auer Environmental Award 
and is a member of the National Research Council Roundtable on Climate 
Change Education. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Bay 
Area Council Economic Institute, the Board of Directors of the San 
Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, the EcoAdapt Climate 
Change Adaptation Innovation Center, the Executive Management Committee 
of a Joint Policy Committee of four regional agencies, the Community 
Advisory Board of KB Home Corporation and Friends of One Bay Area. 
Furthermore, Travis is a member of Lambda Alpha, the honorary society 
for the advancement of land economics, he has chaired a special 
committee established by the City of Berkeley to work with the 
University of California to develop a new plan for downtown Berkeley, 
and has served on the project team of ``Saving the Bay,'' a public 
television documentary film.
  Mr. Speaker, we invite this chamber to join us in honoring Will 
Travis for his tireless and dedicated service to the people of 
California and the San Francisco Bay Area. We also join his family, 
colleagues, and friends in congratulating him on a successful and 
fulfilling career at BCDC and wishing him well on his new initiative as 
a senior policy advisor for the Bay Area's Joint Policy Committee.

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