Donald Holst Clausen (April 27, 1923 – February 7, 2015) was an American businessman, World War II veteran, and politician who served ten terms as a U.S. Representative from California from 1963 to 1983.
Biography
Born in Ferndale, California, Clausen graduated from elementary and high schools of Ferndale,[1] where he was an honors student and lettered five sports: tennis, track, basketball, football and baseball as well as being the drum major of the school band.[2]
Clausen authored the bill creating the Lady Bird Johnson Grove in the Redwood National Park.[2] Former president Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson, sitting president Richard Nixon, and future president Ronald Reagan and many other federal and local dignitaries attended the dedication of the grove.[2] Clausen said that this was his proudest accomplishment.[2]
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Ninety-eighth Congress in 1982, narrowly losing to DemocratDouglas H. Bosco.[1] He served as director, special programs, Federal Aviation Administration from 1983 to 1990 and was a resident of Santa Rosa, California, after his Congressional tenure ended.[1]
The Don Clausen Fish Hatchery in Sonoma County[3] was named in his honor and the Redwood National Park Bypass on US Highway 101 was renamed the Don Clausen Highway in 1996 by act of the California Legislature due to his efforts at obtaining appropriations for building that road and the Redwood National Park Visitor Center.[4]
