[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Page 20369]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO EDGAR WAYBURN

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, it is with great pleasure that 
today I ask my colleagues to join me in saluting the incomparable Dr. 
Edgar Wayburn on his 100th birthday. To Californians and others across 
the United States, Ed Wayburn is a living legacy and an environmental 
hero.
  Ed Wayburn was born on September 17, 1906, in Macon, GA. He attended 
Harvard Medical School and moved to San Francisco in 1933 to start his 
medical practice. He found northern California's natural beauty 
intoxicating and refers to the Sierra Nevada and Yosemite National Park 
as his ``first wilderness love.''
  Within 6 years of moving to California, Ed joined the Sierra Club. 
And over the next 50 years, his love and passion for nature and 
conservation grew. He served five terms as the Sierra Club's elected 
president.
  Ed shared this love of nature with his wife Peggy Wayburn. Together 
they traveled throughout Alaska and fought to protect natural areas in 
California and the West for over 50 years.
  More than 100 million acres of natural beauty throughout California 
and Alaska have been protected today thanks to Ed's hard work, 
including northern California's Golden Gate National Recreation Area 
and Point Reyes National Seashore and Alaska's Denali and Glacier Bay 
National Parks.
  Dr. Wayburn is credited with saving more wilderness than any other 
person alive today.
  I always say that one of my proudest honors is the Edgar Wayburn 
Award presented to me by the Sierra Club. It is a frequent reminder of 
the work Ed and I have done together. It is also a reminder of the 
important work which still remains to protect and preserve our natural 
surroundings.
  Without Ed's efforts over the past decades, I would not want to 
imagine what the American landscape would look like today. Ed's 
leadership and perseverance have ensured the preservation of precious 
open space and wild areas for generations to come. His work will 
continue to be an inspiration to countless environmental advocates and 
others working to effect change. His work is certainly an inspiration 
to me.
  I extend my most heartfelt wishes to Ed Wayburn for a very happy 
100th birthday. Thank you, Ed, for all you have done for the protection 
of our natural environment.

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