[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Page 26504]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO JAY FETCHER

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I want to take this opportunity 
to recognize a true champion of land protection who also happens to be 
a member of my staff, Mr. Jay Fetcher.
  Jay, who owns a ranch near Steamboat Spring, CO, and who is my 
northwestern Colorado field director, has been selected by a land 
preservation group called Colorado Open Lands as the recipient of their 
2009 George E. Cramner Award. Every year since 1992, Colorado Open 
Lands has bestowed this award on someone who has distinguished 
themselves in open space preservation. According to Colorado Open 
Lands, recipients of this award are individuals who have gone above and 
beyond what others have done to preserve and protect open spaces and 
often achieve these goals through determination and passion for the 
land. They leave behind a legacy that will be valued and enjoyed for 
generations. Jay is just such a person, and he is indeed deserving of 
this prestigious award.
  As highlighted in the Colorado Open Lands newsletter announcing this 
award, Jay's ties to Colorado agriculture and conservation run deep. He 
grew up on the family ranch, and after receiving a degree in Animal 
Science from the University of Wyoming, he returned to his family's 
ranch to take over the operation. In 1980, he received a master's 
degree in genetics from Colorado State University.
  In 1994, the Fetchers decided that they wanted their land near 
Steamboat Springs to be a ranch forever and to be able to pass it on to 
their children. After creating their ranch's conservation easement, Jay 
went to the board of the Colorado Cattlemen's Association and suggested 
it start a land trust. The Cattlemen's Association voted to become the 
first mainstream agricultural organization in the Nation to form a land 
trust, which was officially incorporated in 1995 as the Colorado 
Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust.
  Jay worked diligently for land preservation as a founding member and 
past president of the Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust. 
Jay's community service record is also impressive, and includes serving 
on the boards of the Colorado Water Trust, the Colorado Environmental 
Coalition, the Steamboat Springs School District and Education Fund, 
the North Routt Fire Protection District, the Yampa Valley Medical 
Center, and as a founding member of the Community Agriculture Alliance.
  He served on the Governor's Agriculture Land Conversion task force in 
1995 and is a member of the Routt County Cattlemen and the Colorado 
Cattlemen's Association. He also served as a regional representative in 
northwest Colorado for Senator Ken Salazar.
  In 1997, Jay received the American Land Conservation Award, which 
recognizes outstanding volunteer leadership in land and water 
conservation. In April 2009, he received the William Funk Award for the 
Nonprofit Association of Colorado, which honors acknowledged leaders 
who can unify people and organizations around a common cause.
  Over the years, Jay's insight and hard work for the land trust 
movement and conservation have proven invaluable. Jay has become a 
trusted resource for those considering conservation easements.
  That experience--and his deep roots in the community and his 
dedication to service--led Jay to twice run for a seat in the Colorado 
State Legislature. Jay applied the same work ethic--and integrity--to 
these races as he does to his land preservation work. These were very 
close races, and his loss has been our gain.
  In March of this year, I asked Jay to join my office as field 
director for the issues and concerns of northwestern Colorado. I had no 
hesitation offering him the position, as he is a well-known and well-
respected community member of this region of Colorado. He had performed 
similar great service to a former Senator from Colorado--and now 
Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar. He has been doing an exemplary 
job working with the communities and citizens in this area on issues 
regarding water, land, agriculture, outdoor recreation, rural health 
care and services, and federal public land management. Jay is an expert 
in all of these areas and has already proven himself as a valued member 
of my team.
  Jay's dedication to the land and the need to keep it productive and 
preserved was recently highlighted in a book from Colorado's preeminent 
landscape photographer, John Fielder. The book, called Ranches of 
Colorado, features glorious photographs of many Colorado ranches, 
including the Fetcher ranch. In the text of the section describing the 
Fetcher Ranch, former Denver Post reporter and author James Meadow had 
this to say about Jay when describing the Fetcher ranch family history:

       [Jay] fell in love with the land and the cattle and stayed 
     to learn their ways; remaining on the ranch year after year, 
     until the years became decades, and the decades tumbled past 
     a half-century, and there is still no end in sight to [Jay's] 
     love of the land. You can see that love in his eyes [and] you 
     can hear it in his voice. It is a soft voice, a voice that 
     cites Mother Teresa and the intricacies of cattle genetics 
     with the same kind of curiously easygoing gravitas.

  This is a short but apt description of Jay--his story and passion for 
the land he has worked and loved.
  I appreciate that Colorado Open Lands has also recognized Jay's great 
work and am pleased that they are honoring him with this prestigious 
award. My staff and I want to express our congratulations to Jay for 
all his great work. We will continue to expect many more great 
accomplishments from him in the years to come.

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