1999 Assembly Joint Resolution 37
ENROLLED JOINT RESOLUTION
Relating to: the life and public service of Carroll D. "Buzz" Besadny.
Whereas, Buzz Besadny was born on August 9, 1929, in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, and died on March 16, 1999, in Madison, Wisconsin; and
Whereas, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.S. degree in Biology in 1951 and an M.S. degree in Wildlife Management in 1956; and
Whereas, he began his public career in 1952 as a conservation aide in the Wisconsin Conservation Department and devoted 42 years of his life to that agency and its successor the Wisconsin department of natural resources (DNR); and
Whereas, he was appointed as Secretary of Natural Resources in 1980 and served in that capacity for 12 years, earning the respect of the 3 governors that he served, until his retirement in January 1993; and
Whereas, as DNR Secretary he provided the leadership for a number of historical environmental initiatives including the Wisconsin Acid Rain Law and Lakes Protection Program, recycling, groundwater protection, meeting the "fishable and swimmable" standards of the federal Clean Water Act, the tax form checkoff for the Endangered Resources Fund, the Wisconsin Stewardship Program, and numerous wildlife management programs; and
Whereas, as DNR Secretary he supervised the purchase of hundreds of thousands of acres of Wisconsin countryside, including the Chippewa Flowage, for the immediate and future use and enjoyment of all Wisconsin residents and visitors to the state; and
Whereas, he served as President of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (1983-84), President of the Wildlife Society (1974-75), member of the Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation Board of Directors, and Commissioner of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (appointed in 1990); and
Whereas, he received numerous awards for his work in the conservation and environmental fields including the Seth Gordon Award of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (1986), Environmentalist of the Year from the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (1986), First Centennial Award of the College of Letters and Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1989), the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation Special Service Award, and the Wisconsin Idea Award in Natural Resources Policy (1997); and
Whereas, the DNR named a salmon and migratory trout egg-collecting facility in Kewaunee after him in 1993, and the Wisconsin Environmental Working Group and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce instituted a conservation scholarship in his honor in 1994; and
Whereas, he was an avid fisherman and a Ruling Elder in the United Presbyterian Church; and
Whereas, he earned the loyalty of his employes, bipartisan respect and public trust for his devotion to environmental service, and was known to all as Wisconsin's "Father Nature"; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the members of the Wisconsin legislature commend the devoted public service Carroll D. "Buzz" Besadny gave to this state, express their sorrow at his death and extend condolences to his family and friends; and, be it further
Resolved, That the assembly chief clerk shall provide copies of this joint resolution to Mr. Besadny's wife, Barbara; his son, Bruce; and to his daughters Barbara, Sarah and Jean.
