[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5552]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING DR. JOHN HARTIG ON HIS SELECTION AS A MICHIGAN GREEN LEADER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 14, 2010

  Mr. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I rise today in appreciation of Dr. John 
Hartig of Michigan. On April 22nd he, along with 15 others selected 
from over 300 nominations, will be recognized by the Detroit Free Press 
as a Michigan Green Leader. This is the first year of the Michigan 
Green Leader awards to honor the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, our 
environment, and the hard work and dedication of these outstanding 
institutions and people.
  Dr. Hartig currently serves the United States Fish and Wildlife 
Service as the Refuge Manager for the Detroit River International 
Wildlife Refuge. He is responsible for the conservation, protection, 
and restoration of habitat for 29 species of waterfowl, 65 different 
species of fish, and 300 species of migratory birds in the nearly 6000 
acres abutting the Detroit River in Southeast Michigan. The Refuge was 
established in 2001 as part of an effort to preserve this beautiful 
area, which is the intersection of the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways 
and where an estimated 7 million ducks, geese, swans, and coots 
traverse the region annually as part of their migratory patterns.
  As a Trenton native, Dr. Hartig spent his youth fishing on the 
Detroit River. He is trained as a limnologist and has over 30 years of 
experience in environmental science, management, and policy. He served 
a term as President of the International Association for Great Lakes 
Research--a group dedicated to the study of large lakes and watersheds 
around the world. He spent 5 years as the Detroit River Navigator, a 
federal liaison identifying and enacting valuable economic development, 
environmental stewardship, and historical preservation, for the Greater 
Detroit American Heritage River Initiative, established by Presidential 
Executive Order to protect and preserve America's Rivers. He also 
worked for the International Joint Commission, established by the 
United States and Canada to resolve Boundary Water issues, and helped 
establish the Canada-US Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement for more 
than a decade. He has taught Environmental Management and Sustainable 
Development as an Adjunct Professor at Wayne State University. Dr. 
Hartig has written over 100 published articles on the Great Lakes and 
authored or co-authored a number of books including ``UNDER RAPS: 
Toward Grassroots Ecological Democracy in the Great Lakes Basin,'' 
``Honoring Our Detroit River, Caring for Our Home,'' and recently 
``Burning Rivers: Revival of Four Urban-Industrial Rivers That Caught 
on Fire.'' His work has garnered numerous other accolades, including 
the 2003 Anderson-Everett Award for contributions to the International 
Association for the Great Lakes, the 2003 Community Luminary Award from 
the DTE Energy Foundation for his leadership in the development of 
communities in Michigan, and the 1993 Sustainable Development Award for 
Civic Leadership from the Global Tomorrow Coalition.
  John Hartig has dedicated his career to the protection of some of 
Michigan's most valuable and most vulnerable resources. His work 
affects the present and the future of one of our nation's great 
treasures and I am proud to stand before you today in order to honor 
him and the causes he has so diligently championed.

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