When President Bush took office, he had a vision of how America should manage our beautiful land and its bountiful natural resources. In the past four years, we've described this vision in a number of ways.

We've called it new environmentalism. We've described it as the power of partnerships. I personally adopted what I call my Four C's - cooperation, communication, and consultation, all in the service of conservation.

Because my employees kept getting embarrassed by standing in front of audiences and only remembering three of the four "C" words, we finally shortened it to cooperative conservation.

At the heart of this vision is the belief that the effective conservation of our land and wildlife cannot be run out of Washington. Rather, it is the role of government to support and empower citizens to be conservationists and to work in partnership with them on projects to reach goals the government could never achieve alone.

This was not an altogether new vision. In fact, it's exactly what Teddy Roosevelt had in mind when he began the modern conservation movement by asking hunting groups to take the lead in protecting migratory birds and other wildlife 100 years ago.

It's what Aldo Leopold, the father of modern wildlife management, called for when he wrote that we must be a nation of citizen conservationists - not relying on the government to do what we should do ourselves.

The heart of this vision is partnership. It is cooperation. It is private landowners and businesses working hand in hand with local governments and citizens groups.

The Irvine Company has exemplified this vision for the past century here in Orange County. I am honored to be here today as you reaffirm your commitment to the Irvine Ranch Land Reserve - and by extension to the people of southern California.

The Irvine Ranch is what cooperative conservation is all about. A conservation-minded corporate citizen is working hand-in-hand with federal and state agencies, The Nature Conservancy, local communities, private citizens and other partners to thoughtfully and purposefully create an environment where both people and wildlife can thrive. I am especially pleased with this work of conservation here.

William Pereira, the architect and master planner of the reserve, said, "An ounce of farsighted planning is worth a pound of urban renewal a generation hence."

The Irvine Company's foresight decades ago and its commitment today to land conservation has made it so the only renewal needed here is the renewal of our spirits as we enjoy the beauty of this reserve.

In November 2003, Los Angeles hosted a unique meeting. For the first time ever, the federal government's seven primary land-management agencies and their many private-sector partners met to discuss cooperative conservation.

The conference, called Joint Ventures: Partners in Stewardship, provided over 1,600 attendees an opportunity to learn what makes partnerships work, to hear success stories, and to gain skills to bring back to their organizations.

The participants found that they could learn a lot from each other, and especially from successful role models of conservation accomplishments. To continue spreading the word about leading conservation efforts, the agencies decided to establish a new award.

According, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs began the Partners in Stewardship Award of Excellence.

Surely, we have found an outstanding example of conservation leadership in this beautiful place.

On behalf of all Americans, I want to thank the Irvine Company and the Nature Conservancy for providing the leadership, expertise, and commitment that has made the Irvine Ranch Land Reserve a shining example of cooperative conservation.

Today, it is my pleasure to present to the Irvine Company and the Nature Conservancy the Partners in Stewardship Award of Excellence.