Thank you. It is a real pleasure to be here with so many partners who are doing such a profound work of conservation. It is great that nature is being restored in a place so close to major metropolitan areas.

Cooperation is the wellspring of conservation. Nowhere is that more apparent than here, in the Nisqually River Watershed.

The waters streaming beside us into the Sound touch the lives of countless living creatures in their long journey from the glittering glaciers of Mt. Rainier.

The demands on the waters are many, but in the last two decades, the conflicts on them have been few. That is thanks to the Nisqually River Council and its many partners.

Two partners with us today - Bill Ruckelshaus and Billy Frank Jr. - embody my concept of cooperative conservation.

Bill Ruckelshaus became the first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. Think about the challenges he faced: Rivers so polluted that the Cuyahoga even caught fire; cars and smokestacks with essentially no pollution controls; cities that were blanketed by smog. It took courage to be the first person to impose serious pollution control regulations.

The Nisqually Tribe's Billy Frank Jr. has spent almost his entire life near these waters. He was arrested many times during the fishing wars that shook this watershed about four decades ago.

Since those turbulent times, both men have become leaders in creating an atmosphere of cooperative conservation. Thanks to their efforts, and those of many others, the Council has become a place where different constituencies use common sense and common values to resolve their disagreements.

A great example of what is being achieved by these diverse partners is the ongoing recovery of fish species in the river, such as the threatened Fall Chinook salmon.

During the 1960's, fishing rights were a significant source of controversy throughout this watershed. Those long legal battles were compounded by the decline of the salmon due to everything from pollution to the loss of spawning habitat.

So the Council came together to recover and restore. In the early 1990's, the Army provided land to the Nisqually Tribe for the Clear Creek Fish Hatchery, which produces about 3 million Chinook each year.

Construction funds for the hatchery came from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Funding for the operation and maintenance of the hatchery comes from Tacoma Power. Tacoma Power controls two dams on the Nisqually, and it has found ways to create more salmon spawning habitat on the river while keeping the lights on in Tacoma.

Then, with support of the Council, the Nisqually Tribe developed a comprehensive recovery plan for the Chinook salmon just three months after it was listed under the Endangered Species Act. Tribal fishermen have voluntarily reduced their take of Chinook salmon from the Nisqually River and have restored more than 40 acres of estuary habitat.

Today, salmon populations are recovering, and cooperation is flowing - and showing - in other ways. More than 300 volunteers are participating in the restoration and monitoring activities of the Nisqually Stream Stewards.

Each year, about 600 students learn about watershed management through the Nisqually River Education Program. More than 5,000 students come to this refuge annually, to learn from the wisdom of the watershed.

We have learned much about this watershed in recent decades. As our understanding of it has deepened, our appreciation for it has grown. We no longer look at it as a series of separate places - a glacier, a prairie or a tidal flat - but rather as a unified ecosystem.

In the same way, we no longer look at those who depend on its waters as disparate constituencies, but rather as vital partners in the watershed, each with a unique place and each with an important purpose.

Most importantly, we no longer see conflict as an inevitable consequence of resource management. Rather, the uncommon value of conservation has made for the surprising partnerships we see on the Council. It has made for unity of purpose and united action.

That is why the achievements at Nisqually will be celebrated at the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation next week.

I am excited about the conference. People from across the country with similar projects will come together. They will exchange information about what works and what does not; how to incorporate science into collaborative decision-making; and how government agencies, volunteers and businesses can understand each others' perspectives and work together.

Last year, President Bush enunciated the concept of Cooperative Conservation through an Executive Order. The conference is a major step in carrying forward expansion of that concept. Mandates and enforcement have a role, but Nisqually is a great example of how much more can be done through enthusiasm and ingenuity.

As conference participants will hear next week, this watershed, once so polluted by conflict, has become a wellspring of cooperation. It is living evidence of all that can be accomplished when people come together.

In recognition of the stewardship which runs from the slopes of Rainier to the Sound, I am pleased to present the partners of the Nisqually River Council a certificate of appreciation.

Thank you.