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Rahall Honored with Prestigious National Parks Award

04/16/08

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) this evening will honor U.S. Representative Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, for his work to protect America’s National Parks by presenting him with the prestigious William Penn Mott, Jr., Park Leadership Award, one of the highest recognitions annually bestowed by the organization.

“The award I am being honored with is not at all about me.  Rather, it is a tribute to the people of the Third Congressional District of West Virginia.  It is a tribute to the dedicated National Park Service personnel at the New, Gauley, and Bluestone Rivers.  And it is a tribute to all of the National Park Service employees across the Nation.  To them, I attribute this honor, this award,” Rahall said.

NPCA, which works to protect and enhance America’s National Park System for present and future generations, presents the Mott Award each year to a public official who has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to protecting our nation’s outdoor resources, particularly National Parks.  The award is named for William Penn Mott, Jr., a former Director of the National Park Service and NPCA trustee. 

“For millions of Americans, whether they regularly visit our Parks or not, the power of our National Parks to inspire is unmatched.  Our Parks encompass our history, our patriotism, and our values.  They are America’s cathedrals.  The faith we have in National Parks is not shaken by world events and the value we place on National Parks is not dimmed by competing priorities,” Rahall said.

Rahall has served on the House Natural Resources Committee – previously known as the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and House Resources Committee –throughout his entire 31-year tenure in Congress.  Rahall was selected Chairman of the Committee at the start of the 110th Congress; one of his first acts as Chairman was to change the Committee’s name back to the Natural Resources Committee. 

His work on behalf of National Parks includes 1978 legislation establishing the New River Gorge National River as a unit of the National Park System in southern West Virginia.  Ten years later, Rahall gained enactment of legislation to designate the Gauley River National Recreation Area and the Bluestone National Scenic River, in the process creating the largest network of federally protected rivers in the eastern United States.  Rahall also worked to designate the National Coal Heritage Area, which includes 11 counties in southern West Virginia. 

“The future of our National Parks is very bright, particularly with the fast-approaching Centennial of the National Park Service.  I am honored to receive this award, aptly named for Bill Mott. Let us all dream big for the future of our Parks and work together to make those dreams a reality,” Rahall said. 

Previous Mott Award honorees include President Jimmy Carter (1999), former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt (1997), former Member of Congress and then House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee Chairman Morris “Mo” Udall (1980), Sen. John McCain (2000), and leading conservationist and philanthropist Laurance S. Rockefeller (2002).

The Mott Award presentation to Rahall is a centerpiece of this evening’s NPCA annual Salute to the Parks gala in Washington, D.C.