[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 11 (Thursday, January 22, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E97]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING THE RETIREMENT AND CAREER OF JAMES ``JIM'' NISSEN

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. RON KIND

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 22, 2015

  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in honor of the career and 
retirement of James ``Jim'' Nissen. After twenty-six years as La Crosse 
District Manager of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and 
Fish Refuge and nearly 39 years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Mr. Nissen announced his retirement on January second 2015.
   Nissen held seasonal positions with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service in Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, and South Dakota. 
He also held permanent positions in Indiana, Vermont, Utah, and 
Wisconsin. Each station offered new opportunities and challenges and 
developed his career from a student trainee to Refuge Manager.
   Mr. Nissen is not a native of the La Crosse, WI area, but according 
to his colleagues, ``no one knows this refuge better than he does.'' 
Nissen grew up in a duck hunting family in northeastern Nebraska, not 
far from the Platte River and among the prairie pothole country that 
produces much of the continent's canvasback ducks. Jim's career 
followed this regal bird across the country and in 1989, Nissen came to 
the La Crosse District after two years of overseeing the Horicon 
National Wildlife Refuge on the eastern side of Wisconsin. The Horicon 
position marked his return to Wisconsin; Nissen had been there in 1976 
for the Canada goose dispersal program, where he not only helped manage 
the goose population, but also met his wife Ruth.
   The La Crosse position offered Nissen the chance to get back to a 
river-based assignment--his true passion. Nissen fell in love with the 
abundance of canvasbacks, also referred to as ``the king of ducks,'' 
that the Upper Mississippi River and La Crosse area boast during fall 
migration. ``I like rivers and canvasbacks and people,'' Nissen said, 
``so it was a good fit.''
   Each fall, the Upper Mississippi River allows Nissen to see nearly 
half of the world's canvasback population pass by his window during 
migration. ``It really is a world-class spectacle,'' Nissen said.
   During his tenure at LaCrosse, Jim received numerous awards and 
accolades including the Meritorious Service Award of the Department of 
the Interior in 2007. He has overseen multi-million dollar habitat 
enhancement projects funded through the Environmental Management 
Program; he has acquired over 2,500 acres of lands for inclusion in the 
National Wildlife Refuge; he has overseen the construction of a LEED 
certified Visitor Center and office; and he is regarded as a leader in 
wetland and waterfowl ecology and management.
  Jim's departure will create a profound void in the Upper Miss' 
institutional knowledge. His energy, wisdom, humor, innate ability to 
remember dates, and his many discussions will be missed terribly by all 
who worked alongside him. I wish both Jim, Ruth, and their son Travis 
all the best in the years to come.

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