WASHINGTON, July 7, 2005—During a ceremony today at the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Office
of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) (OASA-CW) signed a
partnership agreement to improve management of the nation’s water and related
natural resources. NRCS Chief Bruce Knight and George S. Dunlop, Principal
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, signed the agreement.
“This partnership reaffirms the commitment of USDA and the Department of the
Army to work together to support cooperative conservation activities that impact
wetlands and water resources and protect the nation’s watersheds,” said Knight.
The partnership agreement will enable NRCS and OASA-CW, through the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Civil Works mission, to work together in areas of
mutual interest including wetlands conservation compliance and regulation;
wetland creation, restoration and enhancement; natural disaster recovery; and
watershed planning and implementation.
The two agencies established the following partnership goals:
• To express mutual commitment to comprehensive water and related natural
resources management and conservation in support of Executive Order 13352 on
“Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation.”
• To create and support three national teams to review existing authorities and
programs, identify areas of concern and need for increased collaboration, and
support implementation of actions identified for: watershed planning and
implementation; wetland creation, restoration, and enhancement; and natural
disaster recovery.
• To coordinate other programs and activities including Wetland Conservation
Compliance and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
• To support and encourage the establishment of six to ten field implementation
teams to serve as pilot activities for implementing innovations, removing
impediments to the NRCS/USACE partnership, and engaging and supporting local
leadership in solving water and related natural resources problems.
Additional information on NRCS is available at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov and on
USACE at http://www.usace.army.mil.
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The Natural Resources
Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help
people
conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment.
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