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2007 Annual Report on Cooperative Conservation
The Council on Environmental Quality’s 2007 Annual Report on Cooperative Conservation may contain several examples of EPA's Cooperative Conservation programs. A more encompassing list of EPA programs and activities collected from across the Agency is on the website for EPA's National Center for Environmental Innovation under NCEI Programs and Policy Priorities, Collaboration and Partnership. The materials describe many excellent examples of partnerships, collaborative problem solving, and tools or mechanisms that enable, ease or encourage collaboration.
"Accelerating Environmental Performance through
Collaboration, Partnership and Stewardship"
For EPA, cooperative conservation is collaboration and partnership, stewardship and sustainability. EPA has a long tradition of cooperative conservation. We have more than 80 voluntary program partnerships with businesses, communities, state and local governments, and other organizations. These programs enable flexible, collaborative, market-driven solutions that can deliver measurable environmental results.
Some examples of successful partnering are:
- Good Samaritan Clean Watershed Act
- ENERGY STAR
- ReVa Regional Vulnerability Assessment
- Green Suppliers Network
- Performance Track
- Brownfields
- M2M Methane to Markets
- SmartWay Transport Partnerships
- Compliance Assistance Centers
- Great Lakes
- Targeted Watersheds, National Estuary Program, & 319 (Nonpoint Source Pollution)
- Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles
2005 White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation
The August 2004 Executive Order on Cooperative Conservation (13352) directed the federal agencies that oversee environmental and natural resource policies and programs to promote cooperative conservation in full partnership with states, local governments, tribes, and individuals. These agencies [Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Commerce (NOAA) and Defense, and the Environmental Protection Agency], with the President’s Council on Environmental Quality, held a White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation (WH CCC) in St. Louis, Missouri , August 29 – 31, 2005.
As a co-host of the Conference, EPA showcased examples of successful partnerships to clean up Brownfields and the Great Lakes. Three of those examples follow.
A half-century of divestment and depopulation has resulted in 40,000 abandoned and derelict parcels of land in Philadelphia. In 1995, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society partnered with city agencies and community organizations to create a system for addressing the social, environmental, and economic impacts inflicted by vacant land in the urban environment. With support from city, state and federal governments, as well as private foundations over the past decade, this vacant land management project has achieved significant accomplishments, demonstrating an innovative approach to cooperative conservation in an urban setting.*
The Detroit River Watershed, traditionally know for automobile manufacturing, steel making and heavy industry, offers world-class water, wildlife, heritage and recreational opportunities. It is no secret that Southeast Michigan has suffered from pollution and other negative impacts of global industrialization. However, there’s a change happening, due to innovative partnerships, the region is becoming a model for preserving and enhancing quality of life by protecting regional resources. This session highlights how unique cross-border partnerships established North America's only international wildlife refuge. This project is a prime example of locally led partnerships within the broader context of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration effort.*
Abandonment of industrial sites, disinvestment of housing, neglect of commercial properties and degradation of natural lands affects cities and towns of all sizes across the country. This session will highlight how a diverse coalition of citizens, corporations, government agencies and developers have realized a $600 million collective vision to restore jobs, introduce sustainable housing, build bike trails and a road and reclaim the natural environment in four diverse communities.*
* (Study descriptions provided by WH CCC)
In addition to the three case studies EPA is associated with, there are 27 other examples of cooperative conservation throughout the government. Visit the Conference web site for details on these case studies.
Administrator Stephen Johnson’s comments at the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation