[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 25412]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING JOHN D. RINGLE AND T. MAXINE RINGLE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM DAVIS

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 19, 2004

  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker I rise today to honor John D. 
Ringle and T. Maxine Ringle for their contributions to Fairfax County, 
Virginia.
  In the mid-1960's and 1970's, much of the Fairfax Station and Clifton 
areas of the Occoquan Watershed were zoned by Fairfax County for one-
acre residential lots. During this time, there was little local public 
consciousness of the benefits of maintaining the rural nature of the 
land in order to protect the quality of the drinking water supply from 
the Occoquan Reservoir.
  John and Maxine Ringle owned a substantial portion of the land in 
Fairfax Station and Clifton and were free to direct the division of 
that land into one-acre lots. Developing this land would have led to 
extensive construction, a network of new roads, deforesting the wooded 
area, and irrevocably destroying the rural nature of this area of 
Fairfax County.
  The Ringles recognized the unique nature of this extensive 
undeveloped area and envisioned it as a limited-development area where 
its natural beauty could be preserved. Owners could enjoy the amenities 
of a rural life while living only a few minutes from the urban 
offerings of Fairfax County, Virginia and the Washington, DC 
Metropolitan Area. John and Maxine had the foresight to protect this 
rural area by creating eleven separate developments with five-acre lots 
and establish binding covenants to preserve this lot size.
  In 1982, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, downzoned 41,000 
acres in the Fairfax Station and Clifton areas to legally establish a 
natural protective buffer area in the watershed of the Occoquan 
Reservoir, currently the source of water for over a million Northern 
Virginia residents. Without the vision and actions of John and Maxine 
Ringle in the preceding decades, Fairfax County would not have been 
able to enact this downzoning which continues to protect and preserve 
the Occoquan Watershed and Reservoir for Northern Virginia residents.
  The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors proclaimed July 26, 2004, as 
John D. Ringle and T. Maxine Ringle Day. This honor truly is well 
deserved.
  Mr. Speaker, the Ringle's visionary and environmentally sound 
approach to the development of the Occoquan Watershed enabled Fairfax 
County to ultimately preserve the Occoquan Watershed and Reservoir for 
the benefit of all residents. I ask that my colleagues join me in 
commending John and Maxine Ringle.

                          ____________________