ORONO – The late U.S. Rep. Clifford G. McIntire, University of Maine Class of 1930, was honored posthumously in a ceremony this fall at the university’s Buchanan Alumni House for his vision and leadership in creating national forestlands legislation.

The author and co-sponsor of the McIntire-Stennis Act, passed by Congress in 1962, McIntire worked with UM scientists and foresters and U.S. Sen. John Stennis of Mississippi to write the landmark legislation. The McIntire-Stennis Act was developed to establish research in forestry as a specific part of the agricultural research programs carried out cooperatively by USDA and land grant colleges in the United States.

More than 70 of McIntire’s friends and family members, including his twin brother, 95-year-old Smith McIntire, gathered to dedicate the facility’s largest room in McIntire’s name.

The McIntire Maine Event Room was made possible through private support from several hundred contributors and a major gift from MBNA America. University of Maine Foundation president Amos E. Orcutt, Class of 1964, presided over the event and Dr. Jeffery N. Mills, Class of 1982 and president of the University of Maine Alumni Association and vice president for University Advancement, made the formal dedication.

McIntire grew up in Perham shortly after the turn of the century and worked the family potato farm with his parents and siblings. He began his college career in 1926, but took a year off after his sophomore year so that his brother, Smith, could have his turn at UM. A year later, Smith took a year off for Clifford, and the two young men finally completed their degrees in the early 1930s.

The McIntire Maine Event Room includes a display commemorating the McIntire’s life and work. Buchanan Alumni House is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays. The public is welcome to tour the facility.