Willard Munger, 1975, Minnesota Historical Society.
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Willard Munger was born in 1911 in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. As a young adult he supported the Non-Partisan League, and was close friends with A.C. Townley. Munger unsuccessfully ran for the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1934, and was eventually elected to the Minnesota House in 1954. Munger was responsible for the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund Act, the Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling Act of 1989, the Reinvest in Minnesota Program, the Groundwater Protection Act of 1989, the Toxic Pollution Prevention Act, and the Wetlands Conservation Act of 1991, eventually earning him the nickname “Mr. Environment.” Munger also lead the clean-up of the St. Louis river, and advocated for the ban of the chemical DDT. Munger died of liver cancer in 1999 while he was still serving in the Minnesota House, the Willard Munger State Trail is named in his honor.
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