[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 166 (Wednesday, November 20, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING ROBERT JOSEPH MORRIS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JARED HUFFMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 20, 2013

  Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the late Robert Morris, 
a respected outdoorsman, engineer, and passionate advocate for the 
protection of the Trinity Alps Wilderness.
   Robert Morris was born in Weaverville, California, on January 4, 
1935, a descendent of pioneer families who came to Trinity County 
during the state's Gold Rush. After graduating from high school in 
Weaverville, he attended Stanford University, where he earned a 
bachelor's degree in engineering. From there, Robert earned a master's 
degree in engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He 
returned to Stanford for his Ph. D. and worked with laser science and 
technology pioneer Anthony Siegman on the development of masers and 
their relationship to quantum physics.
   Robert Morris' heart was always in the mountains surrounding his 
hometown. On a pack trip in 1962, he met his wife-to-be, Susanne 
Twight, whom he married in 1963. The couple moved to Weaverville in 
1964, and Robert worked as a manager for The Western Telephone Co. He 
became president of the company after then-president Gil Snyder died 
unexpectedly. He also volunteered with the Trinity County Historical 
Society and began restoring the old Lower Waldorff Ranch, where two 
children were raised.
   When the Wilderness Bill passed Congress in 1964, Robert Morris saw 
an opportunity to re-designate the then-Salmon-Trinity Alps Primitive 
Area as a wilderness. For the next 20 years, Robert organized 
supporters to map and plan the boundaries of the Trinity Alps proposed 
wilderness and began lobbying Congress. In 1982, the U.S. House 
Subcommittee on Public Lands and National Parks held a public hearing 
in the Trinity High School gym, followed by a helicopter tour of the 
Trinity Alps for Members of Congress that he led. On September 28, 
1984, Congress passed--and President Ronald Reagan signed--the bill to 
designate the Trinity Alps Wilderness. The importance of Morris' 
efforts to protect this incredible landscape cannot be overstated.
   Mr. Speaker, Robert Morris was a pioneer in conservation whose 
education and passion has enriched the community where he was raised. I 
urge my colleagues to join me in recognition of his tremendous 
achievements and contributions to Northern California.

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