"As the son of a popular Michigan Congressman, John Dingell, Jr., grew up accustomed to being around power brokers and deal-makers. In 1938, at the tender age of 12, he began working as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives, long before he would succeed his father and launch his own distinguished Congressional career. But it was the time he spent with his father in the woods, not the U.S. Capitol, that had the most lasting impact.
“Dad was real tubercular, and his health was never robust,” Dingell recalled in a 2012 oral history. “But he would always see to it that my brother and I had the means of hunting, and fishing, and enjoying the out-of-doors. That was one of his great gifts to us….Made a conservationist out of me.”
On January 11, 1973, nearly 40 years after his time as a page, Dingell was serving as chair of the House Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation when he spoke to his colleagues in the 93rd Congress to champion one of the most far-reaching pieces of environmental legislation ever drafted: the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973.
“This is one of the most important pieces of legislation in the new Congress,” Dingell said that winter day, speaking on behalf of the 70 cosponsors of the bill. “Further action is necessary if we are to conserve, protect, and propagate our threatened fish and wildlife resources which I feel are diminishing too rapidly.”"
Kim O'Connell reports for National Parks Traveler January 14, 2026.
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