As we enter the primary and debate season, I thought I would begin this speech with a story of an election cycle involving President Lincoln. Several years ago there was a story in the Boston Globe quoting a professor of history on the famous Lincoln and Douglas debates. The professor from the University of Illinois had done an extensive survey of the newspaper coverage of the debates back in 1858.

After the first debate, according to transcripts still in use today-Lincoln's supporters rushed to the podium, hoisted the candidate onto their shoulders and carried him away in triumph.

The pro-Douglas Democratic press reported that Lincoln had been beaten so badly that he had to be helped from the stage.

That, my friends, is an early example of spin.

I would like to take some time today to tell you about the Department of the Interior minus the spin that sometimes accompanies press accounts. Those of you old enough to remember "Dragnet" will appreciate that this will be, "just the facts."

President Bush has an approach to conservation that seeks to reduce conflict, enhance partnerships and promote results. He and Secretary Norton believe environmental progress resides in the efforts of all of us to apply a caring hand to the landscape. This new environmentalism of cooperative conservation relies on incentives, innovation, local ideas, scientific information and integrated decisions.

This approach doesn't set well with those who believe the more you sanction and punish the more protective you will be. It replaces their four pillars of punishment, process, prescription and piecemeal decisions. And it doesn't set well with those who believe that all knowledge resides in Washington, DC. That laws, regulations and policies must be set by those who believe only they know best what the country needs.

With his more constructive philosophy, President Bush has done more for a cooperative spirit on the endangered species act than any President in years. The President brought two initiatives to the Interior Department from his home state of Texas: The Private stewardship grant program and the Landowner Incentive Program. Both programs provide states and individuals with money to help them provide habitat for threatened or endangered species-voluntarily. These two programs along with other grant programs are the future of conservation on private lands. In fiscal year 2004, Interior has increased funding for such programs from $136 million to $430 million. They yield tangible, on-the-ground results. Wetlands and grasslands and other habitat are being preserved without anyone being punished or sanctioned.

I was surprised at the end of December by an editorial in The Washington Post that took a look at the Endangered Species Act on the 30th anniversary of the law. I'd like to read you a short excerpt from that editorial:

"The key to the act's future is flexibility and a more cooperative attitude. Rather than declaring the act "broken," opponents would do better to heed the example of the Texas ranchers who have agreed to encourage the growth of endangered species' habitat in exchange for more control over their property…."

Surprisingly enough, we agree with them.

Besides the Cooperative Conservation changes I've already mentioned, Interior has been at the forefront of a number of accomplishments over the last three years using the 4 C's as a base. Let me mention a few of them.

First, let's discuss:

• Ensuring an Adequate and Affordable Supply of Energy

The Bureau of Land Management and Minerals Management Service manage almost 30 percent of the Nation's energy production. DOI is making major steps to implement the President's National Energy Plan to ensure an adequate supply of domestic energy sources to meet a growing demand including

1. Providing guidance to improve efficiencies in processing oil and gas applications
2. Completion of the Energy Production and Conservation Act (EPCA) requirement of assessing the availability of oil and gas resources on public lands, and (five geological regions).
3. Facilitating development of alternative fuels where appropriate such as wind energy, geothermal, and biomass.

In Alaska, plans are proceeding to ready the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), an area set aside by Congress for just this purpose, for possible resource use. Also, in order to ensure the public gets a fair return from its public lands oil and gas resources, the Minerals Management Service is proposing clarification of its valuation rules for oil and gas using market base determinations.

The cost of transporting oil and gas thru a pipeline must recognize the cost of investment in the pipeline itself. MMS is proposing to increase slightly the deductible percentage of that cost, particularly in the Rockies where production is outstripping the takeaway capacity of existing pipelines.

• Renewable Energy is a priority for this Administration. We are encouraging wind energy development on public lands and have been permitting new wind energy fields.

We named an ombudsman in the Department for coordinating all Department activities related to renewables.

Finally, we are hosting a Biomass Conference in Denver on January 20-22 to find ways to increase biomass removal from public lands.

• Promoting Healthy Forests

After the devastating fires of 2002 and 2003, some of which I was able to tour firsthand, the Congress passed, on a bipartisan basis, the Healthy Forest Restoration Act on December 3, 2003.

The bill, introduced at the request of the President, expedites procedures for forest thinning and restoration, especially in the Wildland Urban Interface. The Department is implementing a stewardship contracting process which allows us to enter into long-term (10-year) contracts with small businesses, communities and non-profits to reduce wildfire risk and improve forest health.

• Improving our National Parks

We are on track to meet the President's commitment to reduce the maintenance backlog of our National Park system. NPS now has a facility condition index to prioritize ongoing maintenance needs. The President and DOI have committed a total of $2.875 billion toward reducing the backlog over the next 3 years.

Over 1,300 repair or rehabilitation projects have been completed or are underway; 400 new ones will begin this year. In FY 2004 alone, $1.1 billion was appropriated.

• Yellowstone - the Crown Jewel of the National Parks

Yellowstone National Park is the World's oldest National Park, created in 1872. In many ways it is the crown jewel of our National Park System. Earlier this Secretary endorsed a National Park Service rule for snowmobiles in Yellowstone that would have limited the number of machines allowed into the Park, required that they be newer, cleaner, and quieter machines and that they be under the control of a licensed guide.

Unfortunately, that proposed rule, which included significant participation and input from the local community, state, county and local officials, has been overturned in a D.C court. The alternative, if left in place, is a total shutdown of snowmobiles in Yellowstone, which is devastating to the local communities surrounding the Park. However, original litigation filed in Wyoming Federal Court is now back on the table.

We have also addressed the concerns within the Park that contributed to its listing in the prior administration on the World Heritage endangered sites. The sewage treatment plant at the Park has been repaired and is now no longer polluting the environment. Solving this problem helped get Yellowstone off the World Heritage endangered list last fall.

To reiterate, while projects such as sewage plants aren't always considered "sexy" by the media, they are important to the President. He is committed to clearing the maintenance backlog in our National Parks.

• Conserving Endangered Species in a Complicated World

One of the first acts of Gale Norton as Secretary was to participate in the release of a California Condor to the wild. The Secretary is very committed to ensuring that cooperative partnerships exist between government and the private sector to enable species on the brink to come back and perhaps more importantly to construct an environment where fewer and fewer species find themselves at risk.

We are also committed to finding the balance between species recovery and maintaining other vital activities in a dynamic economy.

In addition to the condor, the Department has moved toward delisting the wolf, downlisting it from endangered to threatened in March 2003.

In partnership with the key states of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, the Department is requesting that they provide wolf management plans aimed at maintaining a recovered population. This involvement by the States, local communities and industries like yours are essential to achieving delisting. We are reviewing the Scientific Committee concerns. My expectation is we will need changes. Also, we are proceeding to work with Western States on conservation programs on sage grouse.

Additionally, I mentioned earlier several programs which demonstrate the cooperative effort at habitat and species conservation we have undertaken including;

1. The Private Stewardship Grant Program
2. Landowner Incentive Program
3. the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund

• Managing Water in the Arid West

The American West and Southwest face a serious crisis due not only to drought, but to explosive population growth as well. Some areas are facing a shortage of water not only for ranchers and agriculture, but also for Native Americans, wildlife, and exploding growth in urban areas.

This Secretary has two major accomplishments under her belt in ensuring an adequate supply of water for the West

1. Colorado River Water Delivery Agreement: This historic agreement signals a new era of cooperation on the Colorado River by fulfilling California's 70-year old promise to reduce its over-reliance on Colorado River water over the next 14 years.
   California has agreed to live within its allocation helping to bring certainty to the other six Colorado River Basin States.
2. Water 2025: This is a problem solving initiative that encourages voluntary water banks, works to improve technology for water conservation and efficiency, looks at ways to lower the cost for desalination, and removes institutional barriers to increased cooperation and collaboration among stakeholders as well as other market based measures. We have had over 3,000 people attend some 8 regional meetings in the past year to react to this proposal. A report from these meetings will be issued in early 2004.

This is just the beginning. This year, the Bureau of Reclamation will invest $8.4 million in Water 2025 Initiatives. We recognize that States, Tribes and local governments should take a lead in meeting these challenges, and the Department should lend assistance where it makes the greatest sense.

For example, the Las Vegas Water Authority offers residents $1 a square foot to replace traditional grass lawns with natural desert landscaping. The city saves 55 gallons of drinking water per year from this cost effective strategy.

• Bringing Common Sense back to Mining and Mill Sites

In 1997, the Department issued an opinion limiting mine operations to only 5 acres of surface area to support their mining operations, regardless of the type of mining operation. That opinion served to bring mining in this country to a virtual standstill.

Last October the Department issued a new finding to those regulations on recording or maintaining mining claims. The new opinion does not limit the number of mill sites for each mining operation, instead it reinstates the Department's longstanding practices under the Mining law.

Early in Secretary Norton's tenure, the Department issued new regulations for hardrock mining known as Section 3809 Regulations. Hopefully, with these actions (and higher gold prices) mining activity will resume.

• Providing Certainty of Access on Public Lands to Rural Communities

Since 1976, states across the West have been at odds with the Department of the Interior over resolution of the right of public access under a provision of law known as "RS 2477." This Secretary and the State of Utah signed a landmark agreement in April of last year to end this logjam.

The agreement establishes a cooperative, public-involvement process to resolve contested roads by allowing the Department to surrender title to the road if the Secretary finds no federal interest in that road. No disclaimers can be applied for in a National Park, Wildlife Refuge or Wilderness area. Absolutely will not occur!

Currently we are working with the State of Utah and once their process is established, we will begin working with other States on their road claims.

• Moving Toward a Resolution on Wilderness

Under the laws of our nation only Congress can designate wilderness. Currently wilderness encompasses some 106 million acres nationally, administered by the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the Fish and Wildlife Service.

In September 2003, a directive was issued by BLM as the result of the settlement of a lawsuit to halt BLM's designation of lands as wilderness study areas. Now, any land protections come through the Recourse Management Plan process, not a separate, non -public participatory process.

• Wilderness designation is an important decision that needed to be decided by the American people through their Congressional offices. It is my hope that all sides of this issue will come together and resolve many of these issues.
  
  The 4 C's: A Way to Make it All Work

All of this brings me full circle back to the beginning where I began by describing a philosophy of the 4 C's that is espoused by the Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton and by all those who work for her in the Department of the Interior.

The 21st century requires a new way of thinking about the issues of our time. Gone are the divisive formulas of command and control edits issued by Washington. Top down command in a nation as diverse and varied as ours doesn't work.

This Secretary has won over career employees at every bureau at Interior to embrace the idea of working with local communities and stakeholders to arrive at local solutions tailored to the special needs found there. The role of the Department is partnership, and together …results.

Thank you.