When Secretary Norton took office January 31, 2001, she promised to use consultation, cooperation, and communication, all in the service to a shared national idea of conservation. Secretary Norton refers to this new approach to environmental progress as her Four Cs.

In three years, the Department of the Interior (DOI) has improved management of our forests, public lands, and western water. DOI has also implemented the National Energy Plan, promoted a new environmentalism of partnerships for environmental progress, enhanced recreational activities, promoted volunteerism on public lands, and improved the quality of life for Indians. Here is a summary of some of the most significant results achieved:

Promoting Healthy Forests - President George W. Bush introduced his Healthy Forests Initiative in August 2002 at the height of one of the worst fire seasons the Nation has ever experienced. Though over 98% of wildland fires were stopped before they became large catastrophic fires, the dangers and losses associated with uncontrollable, catastrophic fires were devastating. With assistance from Congress and through administrative actions, the Department began work on high priority and restoration projects. Key accomplishments of the Healthy Forests Initiative to date include:

• DOI and the U.S. Forest Service continue to increase the number of acres treated through thinning and prescribed burns to reduce the threat of catastrophic fire and reestablish natural healthy forest and rangeland conditions. By the end of FY 2004, nearly 9.5 million acres will have been treated by Federal agencies. In FY 2003, DOI treated 1.26 million acres, and the Forest Service treated 1.4 million acres. From 2001-2003, the agencies treated a total of 7 million acres. Each year has resulted in a record number of acres treated.

• At President George W. Bush's request, Congress passed on a bipartisan basis the Healthy Forests Restoration Act. It was signed into law December 3, 2003. The Act expedites procedures for forest thinning and restoration projects, amends the administrative appeal rules to expedite appeals of forest health projects, encourages early and meaningful public participation, and expedites Federal agency ESA consultations.

• In May, 2003, DOI, in conjunction with USDA, and CEQ began implementation of the administrative improvements President Bush called for as part of his Healthy Forests Initiative in 2002. These improvements will reduce complex procedures, provide more timely decisions and provide great flexibility in emergency situations to get needed forest restoration work done.

• DOI is implementing stewardship contracts, which allow the Department to enter into long-term (up to 10 years) contracts with small businesses, communities and nonprofit organizations to reduce wildfire risk and improve forest health. The contractor is allowed to retain wood products in exchange for the service of thinning trees and brush, and removing dead wood from Federal forests and rangelands. Stewardship contracts help achieve the President's vision of healthier forests by offering a means to improve protection of the wild land urban interface and advance environmental restoration projects. The use of long-term contracts foster a public/private partnership to restore forest and rangeland health by giving contractors the incentive to invest in equipment and infrastructure needed to productively use material generated from forest thinning, such as brush and other woody biomass, to make wood products or to produce biomass energy.

• DOI and the Department of Agriculture have created the Interagency Wildland Fire Leadership Council to further implement the National Fire Plan and combat wild land fires more effectively. The Council provides a coordinated, seamless management structure to all aspects of wildland fire policy and integrates Federal fire, land restoration and rehabilitation activities with those of States, Tribes and local governments.[could we add a quick specific example after its on the web?]

• Landowner Incentive Program - Over $34.8 million in grants have been issued to states and tribes to work with private landowners who enhance or protect their properties to support endangered species habitat. This is critical because the majority of endangered species reside on private lands.

• Private Stewardship Grants - In FY 2003, the FWS offered on a competitive basis $9.4 million to individuals and groups engaged in local, private, and voluntary conservation efforts that benefit federally listed, proposed or candidate species under the Endangered Species Act.

• Cooperative Conservation Challenge Cost Share. In FY 2003, $12.9 million was distributed to states, counties, Tribes and external associations to fund both the process and on-the-ground efforts to achieve conservation through restoration, protection, or enhancement of natural resources. These grants involve 256 conservation projects, involve 749 partners in 40 states and have leveraged $24 million in partnered dollars. An estimated 50,000 acres will have been protected or restored in just one year through this program. For example, in FY 2003, over $725,000 in federal matching funds went to Arizona, where the Bureau of Land Management is participating in numerous projects to restore wildlife habitat with partners such as the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the Arizona Department of Transportation, the Sporting Group Volunteers, and the Audubon Research Ranch. A state by state breakout of the grants is available at www.doi.gov/cci.

• The Department is also expanding the use of cooperative conservation tools such as conservation banking, stewardship contracting, enhanced use of Safe Harbor agreements under the Endangered Species Act, and use of consensus-based management for public lands to advance the 4 C's. Through cooperative conservation, we can achieve healthy lands, thriving communities and dynamic economies.

Renewable Energy
• Established a renewable energy ombudsman at DOI to facilitate the development of alternative fuels such as wind, geothermal, solar, hydropower and biomass energy.

• Issued "Assessing the Potential for Renewable Energy on Public Lands." This report identifies the top places on federal land for development of particular renewable resources. The report will assist land managers in planning for renewable energy development.

• Issued a more in-depth report identifying the top 36 geothermal sites on federal lands.

• In 2003, the BLM began a nationwide environmental impact statement that will assist in permitting wind energy projects.

• Proposed legislation to authorize the Minerals Management Service to permit renewable energy projects, such as wind, solar and wave energy, in the offshore waters of the United States.

• Hosted a Biomass conference in Denver, Colorado on January 20-22, 2004, to help increase the use of biomass as an energy source. Proposed changes in regulations to increase biomass removal from hazardous fuel treatment sites are under consideration.

  Developing New Supplies of Domestic Fossil Energy

• Completed Phase I of the Congressionally directed study under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to determine the availability of oil and natural gas resources on public lands. The study identified five major basins of oil and natural gas potential in the western states and identified constraints relating to their development.

• Completed time sensitive energy-related BLM Resource Management Plans in three key western oil and gas basins and working to complete the remaining time sensitive plans in the coming year. The BLM is committed to ensuring strong public participation in the process of developing land use plans.

• Issued guidance to BLM State and field offices on ways to improve the processing of applications for permits to drill (APDs) on existing oil and gas leases. Reestablished Quality Assurance Teams that will visit our oil and gas field offices to help identify workload needs and best management practices for processing APDs.

• The OSM provides regulatory certainty for the orderly development of coal, America's largest domestic energy source. OSM carries out its mission of working with states to protect the environment and reclaim abandoned coal mines in order to protect the health and safety of Americans on federal, State and private lands.

  Offshore Oil and Gas Development

• The Minerals Management Service more accurately assessed deep gas resources in the outer continental shelf and revised its estimates upward by 175%. This is an important addition to known domestic gas supplies that are available for development.

• Published MMS proposed rules for oil and gas valuation to ensure the public gets a fair return from development of energy resources on federal lands.

• In 2004, finalized rules to provide incentives for producing natural gas in offshore wells located at least 15,000 feet below the surface. These incentives are projected to provide an additional 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas - enough to heat every home in America now served by natural gas for three years.

  Strategic Petroleum Reserve and National Petroleum Reserve

• Assisted the DOE in refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve through the MMS royalty-in-kind program, thereby increasing national energy security. The SPR is the government's stockpile of oil for national emergencies.

• The BLM developed a balanced plan that provides for energy development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA), while offering to set aside more than one million acres of land and waters located within the NPRA for environmental purposes.

  States Get Over $1 billion in Mineral Revenues

• In 2003, more than $1 billion was distributed to 35 states with energy production that comes from federal land as part of the federal royalties collected by the Minerals Management Service. This amount was almost $300 million more than in the previous year. The revenues are particularly important to states today that have budget shortfalls and which use the mineral revenues for local needs, ranging from education to improvements in infrastructure.

Secretary Norton issued Water 2025, a program to help prevent crisis and conflict over the use of western water, and has announced $4 million dollars of Challenge Grants for much of the West's drought stricken areas. The plan helps to focus attention on the reality of working through the major conflicts of securing water supplies for municipal, agricultural, recreation, and environmental needs due to population growth in West, expanding uses for water, drought trends and other factors. Water 2025 recognizes that States, Tribes, and local governments should have a leading role in meeting these challenges and that Interior should focus its efforts where scarce Federal dollars can provide the greatest benefits.

The challenge grants, issued through the Bureau of Reclamation, are matching grants for water irrigation districts to leverage their money. The dollars are to be used to implement four key management tools: to create water markets, to make more efficient use of existing supplies, to invest in water efficiency projects and water conservation.

Enhancement of Sportsman Activities - Enhancement of Sportsman Activities - The President and Secretary Norton secured an additional $4.6 million to improve the operation and maintenance of hatcheries, one of the largest increases for the hatchery program in years. Since 2001, the FWS has established 50 new hunting and fishing programs on National Wildlife Refuges. Today more than 300 National Wildlife Refuges are open to hunting and over 250 to fishing. Other efforts to enhance sportsmen's opportunities include:

• Signing of an MOU with BLM, the Forest Service and 17 major sportsmen's groups to improve hunting and fishing access to federal lands, and signing of an agreement with disabled sportsmen to improve hunting and fishing access on refuges.

• Hosted a collaborative symposium with sportsmen's organizations to improve communication and identify conservation projects that would benefit by working in partnership.

• Established a training course for refuge staff on how to conduct and improve hunting and fishing opportunities, which are two of the six priority public uses identified in law, on refuges.

• Created several new positions and management changes to improve service to sportsmen including an Assistant Director of Sportfish and Wildlife Restoration to manage funds disbursed to states for fish and wildlife management and conservation.

• Scheduled for completion in March 2004, the Fisheries program's strategic plan, which signals the FWS commitment to support and strengthen recreational fishing.

• For example, in Yellowstone National Park, one of the major sewage treatment plants in the Park has been replaced and is no longer polluting. By making this repair a priority, the problem was solved and helped to get Yellowstone removed from the World Heritage endangered list in 2003.

  Yellowstone National Park issued a new rule placing operational limits and restrictions on the types of snow machines and routes for snowmobiles in the Park. It required the machines to meet the best available technology. They were to be newer, cleaner, quieter, and less polluting. These new machines could only be in the Park under the control and supervision of a licensed guide. Unfortunately, the proposed rule, which included significant participation and input from the local community, state, county and locals, was overturned in a D.C. court. The court decision allows less clean snow machines with high emission engines to go anywhere in the Park in 2004, yet eliminates them altogether after 2005, with the effect of reducing opportunities for visitor enjoyment consistent with maintaining environmental protections.

• Cleaning Up Abandoned Mine Lands
  Since more than 3.5 million Americans live less than one mile away from dangerous abandoned coal mines, it is important to reclaim these mines more quickly than the 200 year clean up path on which we had been operating. Secretary Norton has proposed a plan that will correct the problem by directing funds to the most critical and vulnerable areas. The plan is designed to dramatically speed up the reclamation, with the hope of restoring these lands within 25 years. In addition, the plan will save taxpayers $3.6 billion by better targeting funding.

• Finding Balance between Grazing and Other Uses
  BLM lands are managed for many recreation and productive uses including grazing. In December 2003, the BLM issued draft grazing regulations that will improve grazing management, improve stewardship of the public lands, and allow for more meaningful public participation in the planning process. The BLM continues to work with the ranching community and interested parties to find a balanced approach to land management to accommodate ranching needs and wildlife habitat needs on grazing lands. The grazing regulations will be final in the spring or early summer of 2004.

  Recreational uses on public lands continue to increase. BLM managers are working in numerous partnerships with off road, trail, and water recreationists to find ways to help maintain trails, protect habitat and sensitive sites, accommodate other users, and find ways for all users and managers to work together to better manage recreational use on public lands. Many BLM areas are adopting plans for off road vehicle uses that minimize resource impacts, yet allow continued use by outdoor enthusiasts.

• National Refuge System President George Bush and proposed a record high $402 million budget for the National Wildlife Refuge System in FY 2004.

• Habitat Conservation Grants The FWS is managing many of the grant programs designed to promote conservation of species on private and public lands through the Department's Collaborative Conservation Program. Included in these are two new grant programs, Landowner Incentive Program and the Private Stewardship Protection program. Both allow private citizens and local communities to get the assistance and incentives necessary to participate in the recovery efforts of endangered species. In the summer of 2003, 113 grants were awarded to individuals and groups in 43 states to undertake conservation on private lands for endangered or threatened species.

  The Endangered Species Act, administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service, continues to be used to list endangered species, but has not been as successful in recovering species so they can be taken off the list. In the past 30 years, only 15 of over 1000 domestic species have been removed from the endangered and threatened lists on the grounds that they have been recovered. Secretary Norton is moving forward with aggressive efforts to recover and de-list endangered species by encouraging habitat restoration and enhancement of the species on the ground. The Secretary's approach builds upon the existing regulatory structure by empowering the American people to take conservation into their own hands. This requires that the Federal government involve states, Tribes, businesses, conservation organizations and landowners in incentive-based programs and conservation agreements.

  One of the first acts of Secretary Norton was to participate in the release of a California condor to the wild, a significant achievement in the overall effort to recover the species. Recovery efforts for other species are ongoing, which are improving the status of many species and allowing for the delisting of several species in the near future. The Department is working toward the delisting of the wolves throughout the country and is working closely with the states involved to assure that their management protection programs are aimed at maintaining recovered populations. Partnerships across the country between the FWS and the states, local governments and private citizens are preserving and enhancing habitat for myriad species, from salmon on the coasts, to prairie dogs on the plains and falcons.

  The FWS is managing many of the grant programs designed to promote conservation of species on private and public lands through the Department's Collaborative Conservation Program. These are the Landowner Incentive Program and the Private Stewardship Protection program. Both allow private citizens and local communities to get the assistance and incentives necessary to participate in the recovery efforts of endangered species. In the summer of 2003, 113 grants were awarded to individuals and groups in 43 states to undertake conservation on private lands for endangered or threatened species.

Secretary Norton encourages the use of public lands for visitor enjoyment and is working with numerous recreation organizations to establish Memoranda of Understanding between the user groups and Federal agencies to provide for a partnership of stewardship conservation on the public lands. In addition, the recreation.gov web site allows the public to more easily access information for planning trips to Federal land destinations and volunteer.gov is giving people an additional purpose to work and, at the same time, enjoy the public lands. Heritage tourism is becoming more important to American travelers. Their vacation destinations are often a national historical site, landmark or battlefield. Preserve America is implemented through several DOI programs and is First Lady Laura Bush's initiative to help preserve historic sites and features that attract visitors to public lands. President George W. Bush's Healthier U.S. Initiative is being implemented within DOI to encourage individuals to actively use public parks and resources to improve their health and well being.

Secretary Norton strongly endorses the continued use of recreation fees to be collected for use in the Parks, wildlife refuges and on BLM lands where they are collected. The fees pay for facility improvements, programs and materials that enhance the public's enjoyment and experience. Currently the fee program is temporary and Congress is considering making it permanent. In addition, Secretary Norton is the lead for the Administration in signing a Memorandum of Understanding with both the Western Tourism Policy Council and the Southeastern Tourism Policy Council to assure that states and federal agencies work collaboratively on public issues. These cooperative relationships are designed to improve tourism opportunities on public lands so vital to the well being of many small communities nationwide.

Improving Quality of Lives for Indian Communities- Since 2002, President Bush and Secretary Norton have secured $1.1 billion for Indian school replacement, improvement and repair projects in the states. A prerequisite to providing a quality education is safe and structurally sound schools.

• Education - "No Child Left Behind." President Bush and Secretary Gale Norton are committed to ensuring that the almost 48,000 Indian students attending Bureau of Indian Affairs funded elementary and secondary schools receive quality educational opportunities and the opportunity to achieve. The Department convened consultation and negotiated rulemaking sessions across the Nation to help initiate the President's "No Child Left Behind" initiative at Indian schools. The historic education reform law brings BIA-funded schools the four pillars of the President's education reform plan: accountability and testing, flexibility and local control, funding for what works and expanded parental options for children attending failing schools.

• National Summit on Emerging Tribal Economies: In 2002, Secretary Norton led the Federal presence at a historic National Summit on Emerging Tribal Economies. An estimated 1,600 representatives of Tribal governments, Indian businesses, Federal agencies and corporations attended the event, which featured more than 100 presentations by successful Indian Country businesses and over 100 exhibitors from the public and private sectors. The summit partners created a National strategy to meet the goals of creating 100,000 new jobs in Indian Country by the year 2008 and establish sustainable, market-driven tribal economies by 2020.

• Trust Management Reform and BIA Reorganization: Secretary Norton convened an unprecedented task force with tribal leaders from across the Nation and directed the participation of the most senior leadership of the Department to address Indian trust management reform and the overall improvement of service delivery to American Indian beneficiaries. The Department convened more than 45 meetings and consultations with key tribal leaders across the nation and developed the resulting historic reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians.

• Coordinated MOU for Fire Protection: DOI developed a draft MOU with the Forest Service, National Association of State Foresters, National Association of Counties and the Intertribal Timber Council to provide for a coordinated national framework for the annual selection of fuels treatment projects.

The goals of Preserve America are to help the public gain a greater shared knowledge about the Nation's past, strengthen regional identities and local pride, increase local participation in preserving the country's irreplaceable cultural and natural heritage assets. Public interest in historic preservation helps support the economic vitality of the nation's communities.

In addition, the Department of the Interior, through the NPS, manages the nation's Federal historic preservation programs such as Save America's Treasurers, the National Register of Historic Places and the Natural Landmarks programs. Secretary Norton has recently designated several sites on the prestigious National Historic Landmarks List. In addition, the NPS administers the $3.2 billion tax incentive program for saving historic buildings and an additional number of cultural and archeological preservation programs

Improving Volunteerism on Public Lands - Take Pride in America - Answering President George W. Bush's Call to Service, Secretary Norton introduced Take Pride in America, a program created under President Reagan, in April 2003. Take Pride is part of USA Freedom Corps and already has more than 100 charter partners. It is designed to increase awareness of public lands and natural and cultural resources, encourage an attitude of stewardship and responsibility towards public lands, and promote and recognize the efforts of volunteer participation by individuals and organizations that care for such lands and resources. The program plans to double the 200,000 volunteers who are already at work on our public lands. It encourages citizen stewardship by working in partnership with other Federal, State, and local governments; community, civic and youth organizations; conservation groups and corporations.