America’s history of cooperative conservation

Everything that Earth Day represents is embodied in cooperative conservation — the efforts of citizens from every walk of life, landowners, communities, conservation groups, industry, and governmental agencies working together to conserve our environment.

At the Department of the Interior, we are committed to this collaborative approach, based on a conservation philosophy that traces its roots to 1908, long before the first Earth Day in 1970.

A century ago next month, President Theodore Roosevelt inaugurated the modern conservation movement when he convened an historic May 1908 conference at the White House to address the growing threats to our nation’s land and wildlife. Attending the conference were the nation’s governors, members of Roosevelt’s Cabinet, Supreme Court Justices, conservationists such as Gifford Pinchot and other national leaders.

I doubt that any of those attending this historic gathering could have imagined the height and depth, width and breadth of the movement they began. Who could have imagined the vast array of national parks, wildlife refuges, scenic areas and other wild lands that have been protected? The wildlife that has been recovered? The beautiful and peaceful places that have been set aside for all to enjoy?

While President Roosevelt and all those attending the conference a century ago could not imagine what was to come, they understood one central truth. Conservation in America would have to be a partnership with the American people. The federal government could not do it alone. State governments could not do it alone. The American people had to lead this great endeavor or it would never succeed.

The American people rose to the task. In the past 100 years, thousands of individuals, conservation organizations, community groups, businesses, and other partners have joined forces to establish a lasting legacy of conservation in America.

In 2005 the White House held an important conference on cooperative conservation, exploring how to continue this legacy into the 21st century. One of the first things I did when I became secretary in 2006 was to travel the country holding listening sessions on cooperative conservation in follow-up to the conference.

I wanted to hear what the American people had to say about how we could work together in their communities. My senior staff and I attended a total of 26 of these sessions and heard from thousands of people.

Based on what we learned, we sent proposed legislation to Congress to give the department greater opportunities to enter into partnerships with private individuals, companies, organizations and government entities in order to achieve conservation goals on a landscape scale.  In 2007, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced this legislation at the request of the administration — S. 2231, the proposed Cooperative Conservation Enhancement Act.

The Department of the Interior also has made a huge budgetary commitment to supporting cooperative conservation. In the past seven years, we have increased programs and grants designed to facilitate cooperative conservation from $217 million in 2001 to $311 million in 2008, a 43 percent hike.

It was my honor on April 21 to begin Earth Week by recognizing those who have carried out some of these programs or otherwise continued the historic legacy of Roosevelt — the winners of the 2008 Department of the Interior Cooperative Conservation Awards.

The 21 awards recognized the contributions of more than 700 individuals and organizations. Take, for example, the diverse partnership that is restoring the Penobscot River in Maine and bringing back runs of endangered Atlantic salmon: It includes a hydropower company, an Indian nation, six conservation groups, a corporation and state and federal agencies. Partnerships across the country are joining forces to conserve wildlife, restore wetlands and range lands, improve fish habitat, restore recreational opportunities on public lands or bring about a myriad of other improvements.

During Earth Week at Interior, a number of partners are participating in cooperative conservation panels on topics such as how to reverse the decline of songbirds and other migratory birds; how to better manage our nation’s water to meet the demands of growing populations and how to improve the health of our oceans and conserve imperiled marine ecosystems such as coral reefs.

 Historians looking back at the 20th century in America may very well label it the “The Century of Conservation.” For the first time in human history, a nation dedicated itself to the conservation of wild places and wild creatures. Given the challenges of the 21st century, we must commit ourselves on this Earth Day to even more collaboration. We must ensure that the 21st century becomes the “Century of Cooperative Conservation.” We can accomplish so much more working together.

Kempthorne is secretary of the interior.