Volume 156, No. 133 covering the 2nd Session of the 111th Congress (2009 - 2010) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TRIBUTE TO JIM CORLESS” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Senate section on pages S7742 on Sept. 29, 2010.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO JIM CORLESS
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, as Members of the Senate, we work every day with public servants who fill an amazing variety of roles, and when one of those servants fills his or her role with exceptional skill and dedication, they deserve our praise. One such public servant, Jim Corless, the superintendent of Keweenaw National Historical Park in Michigan, is preparing to retire after nearly 30 years of Federal service, the last 3 of which have come in helping build one of the most unique national parks in the Nation.
Jim Corless came to Michigan's Copper Country from Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Skagway, AK, making him that rare person who moved south to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This was good fortune for those of us who care about preserving the history of Michigan's copper mining era because Jim's career had prepared him well. As a trained historian, Jim had already helped bring alive the drama of our Nation's founding, the frontier grit of the earliest Texas settlers, the history of Ozark waterways in Arkansas, and the growth of textile manufacturing in Massachusetts in parks from coast to coast.
Preserving the legacy of Michigan's copper mining industry has long been a priority for many of us Michiganians. The Keweenaw Peninsula contained perhaps the world's richest and purest deposits of copper, and from native peoples 7,000 years ago to miners in the 19th and 20th centuries, those deposits have had profound effects on human society across our Nation and on the peninsula.
The park established in 1992 to preserve that history is like no other in the Nation. Unlike the vast majority of National Park Service facilities, in which the government owns and controls the land and associated assets of the park, Keweenaw National Historical Park is an unusual public-private cooperative venture. Private citizens, nonprofit groups, and local governments own nearly all the park's historic assets, and they are managed cooperatively, with the Park Service providing coordination, advice and funding.
That calls for a superintendent who is part historian, part manager, and part diplomat. Jim has skillfully served all three roles. He has worked closely with officials at the Environmental Protection Agency to simultaneously preserve the industrial legacy of the copper mines while remediating the environmental impact of that legacy. And he has taken a leading, but always cooperative, role in bringing together the various community interests who have a stake in the park and its growth. Just one example of this work is his work to help create the Quincy Smelter Steering Committee to help preserve one of the park's most important historic resources.
Jim describes Keweenaw National Historical Park as a ``parknership,'' and that illustrates the thoughtful way in which he has approached his job over the last 3 years. All of us who care about Michigan's vital mining past are grateful for his exceptional service, and we all wish him and his wife Mary Jane the very best as they embark on the next chapter of their lives.
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