[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 11, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S157]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL L. HANNA

  Mr. RISCH. Madam President, I rise today to congratulate and honor 
the retirement of one of my senior staff members and friend who has 
served in my home State of Idaho for the last 13 years as the regional 
director of my Lewiston office, Michael ``Mike'' L. Hanna.
  Following his retirement from the timber industry, Mike came to my 
staff after my first election to the U.S. Senate in May of 2009. I knew 
right away that he was a perfect fit for the regional director position 
in my Lewiston office. As a result, my chief of staff and I hired him 
immediately following his interview.
  Mike was born in Boise, ID, and was raised there and in the Emmett 
Valley, where his parents' families worked as farmers and sawmill 
workers. Growing up in a farming and timber family eventually led him 
to the University of Idaho, where he graduated with a bachelor of 
science degree in forest management in 1976.
  Upon graduating from U of I, Mike began his 33-year career in the 
timber industry as a forester with the Idaho Department of Lands. After 
12 years with the State of Idaho, he transitioned to the private 
sector, where he worked for Empire Lumber Company, Weyerhaeuser, and 
Three River Timber.
  Given his expertise and vast knowledge of the timber industry, Mike 
was frequently called upon to participate in and lead collaborative 
groups and natural resource associations and organizations. To name but 
a few, he was a founding member of the Clearwater Basin Collaborative, 
president of the Intermountain Logging Conference board of directors, 
president of the Resource Organization on Timber Supply, or ROOTS, 
president of the Clearwater Resource Coalition, and the chairman of the 
Forestry Committee of the Intermountain Forestry Association. He was 
also recognized by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for his U.S. 
Forest Service stewardship contract work.
  With his deep roots in Idaho and the timber industry, he was the 
perfect representative to the natural resource communities of the 
Clearwater Region, stationed out of my Lewiston office. During his 13 
years of service as my regional director, he advised and guided my 
office through many complicated issues, like the Idaho roadless rule 
implementation, the salmon and steelhead management plans, Columbia 
River Treaty, Good Neighbor Authority, tribal relations, and too many 
other issues to name.
  Mike and his wife Nancy have been married for 45 years and have made 
their home in Orofino, ID for 44 years, where they are an integral part 
of the fabric of the community. They have two children, Lindsay and 
Adam, and five grandchildren.
  It is always difficult to lose a trusted staff member of Mike's 
character, experience, and knowledge, and I wish him and Nancy nothing 
but the best in their retirement and look forward to our continued 
friendship in the years ahead.
  Congratulations and thank you for your outstanding service to my 
staff and the citizens of Idaho.

                          ____________________