[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 151 (Tuesday, September 20, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4851-S4852]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                       REMEMBERING PHIL HANCEFORD

 Mr. BENNET. Mr. President, I rise to pay my respects to Phil 
Hanceford, a tireless and broadly respected advocate for public land 
conservation. Phil unexpectedly passed away on August 14, 2022.
  Phil served more than 15 years as an attorney, policy expert, and 
conservation director at The Wilderness Society--TWS--in Denver, CO. He 
began his career with an internship at TWS while a student at the 
University of Colorado School of Law. Across a distinguished, 15-year 
career, Phil played a significant role in protecting some of the most 
important public lands in the West, from Bears Ears and Grand 
Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, to conservation areas in the 
Pacific Northwest, the Mojave Desert, Nevada, and Colorado.
  Phil was an expert in land management planning, specializing in the 
management of national monuments and other Bureau of Land Management--
BLM--conservation lands. He inspired and mentored countless individuals 
at TWS and across the conservation community, contributing his deep 
expertise and humble spirit to all who sought his advice or support. 
Over the years, his guidance helped shape a new cohort of effective 
advocates for America's public lands.
  Phil's greatest accomplishments include helping to create the 
National Landscape Conservation System; the adoption of the Desert 
Renewable Energy Conservation Plan that conserved wildlands and 
promoted renewable energy development across nearly 11 million acres in 
southern California; the restoration of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-
Escalante National Monuments that protects over 3 million acres of 
stunning desert wilderness in southern Utah; and the establishment of 
Browns Canyon National Monument in Colorado.
  Phil was a champion of the BLM and earned the lasting respect of 
Bureau staff across the country for his warmth and expertise. He often 
went out of his way to connect with employees across the organization 
and fiercely advocated for getting staff into the field to see 
firsthand the places they worked to protect.
  Phil grounded his work in humor, kindness, determination, and grace. 
He genuinely believed in the promise of public lands as a legacy for 
everyone--an issue that could bring Americans together regardless of 
where you lived or which political beliefs you held. Phil's

[[Page S4852]]

distinguished career was cut too short, but he leaves behind a legacy 
that will endure for generations to come. I extend my deepest 
condolences to Phil's wife Keenan and their young daughter Hazel, along 
with the rest of Phil's family, friends, and colleagues.

                          ____________________