gettysburg address,

record, but it is a new record for us. it's not characteristic of other markets where we've been. so i think a new perspective on how we approach markets has helped us a great deal. i think all of us need to find ways to cooperate to certainly support wto, certainly work for free trade in all of the free trade agreements, but i think we also need to look for ways of lowering suspicion increasing understanding and appreciating the needs not only the needs of our companies and the needs of the government but the needs of the citizens who are going to be using our products. so i believe that there is a great opportunity for business to be more involved as the wto

moves forward. >> thank you for a much, robert. i would encourage you to give your speech to the environment committee of the european parliament the next time you are over in brussels because they are all a terrific bunch over there. let me take the opportunity to open up the discussion to the distinguished guests that we have here the conference who might have some questions. some of the remarks were a little bit provocative although you hit them a little bit in your speeches. for instance, rinehart, you raised some points about msm, you touched upon some issues of the e.u. of respecting its obligation in some areas, so let's open up the floor and get some kind of russell questions to some of the hidden controversies you had in your speeches. would anybody like to kick this off?

>> i have one for the audience than. for those of you interested in the sector we have a couple industrial sector people appear, who could accept to go with reinhardt's question related to them the msm principle this of course the big challenge if your industry were to go to be the only with an msn rule due to open all of your markets to the chinese and they wouldn't necessarily reciprocate with your industries go for that or would you actually try to look at ways to indeed not apply the msn principle which could be very challenging in the wto. maybe you could clarify a little

on this point which i think is central if we want to move forward on the second negotiations of wto. >> i would like to come back to what robert has said. i thought it was quite interesting because he thought terrorists only serve the government and if it is so let's abolish them because they are supposed to protect the industry but if the industry considers the date doesn't need protection any longer, and i would really go for the argument, let's go for at coming back to the idea you see the idea of the unilateral kamarck, but the traditional view of the unilateral use this part of the room goes to zero and gives a gift to the other part of the room based on the other side.

i could be conceived that to go on a conditional part of the room and don't give to the cover part of the room. it's a little difficult. a suggestion has been made by gary to go for yell models with a waiver. i think this is a rather intriguing proposal. i guess i would have a lot of problems if that ever came to mind, but the other issue is we are stuck with our mfn principal we have to do something and that is not spent on a unilateral basis and the market level basis put something on the bilateral basis which is in town today to launch a bilateral agreement between the u.s. whereby you

would fully eliminated the industrial terrorism and double city positive. >> any questions? >> i see you over there. how does that u.s. drc the issue of mfn in relation to the negotiations for good? >> it's very difficult as a practical matter and as a legal matter because the choices the you have basically are up front in the outset of in negotiation to obtain the agreement of the entire membership of the wto that something would be applied on a non-msm basis which seems to be a bit of a stretch.

oregon, you negotiate something with the understanding that at the end of the negotiation, it will be applied on an mfn basis which presents the huge free ride problem that's been discussed. the options unfortunately don't extend very far beyond those in our estimations. there is a fundamental sort of difficulty i think which we will hear more from the ambassador later which the critical reason they need to be thinking of the creative and strategically about ways to motivate big players in the wto to change the calculation about participating in the position. >> jennifer, i want to ask a question about the expansion certainly coverage of goods you talked about but there's also a discussion about the non-tariff

barriers as well. has the industry at a global level made any progress on that? because that has always been a difficult issue for the industry. >> yes, i think the industry has made progress on non-tariff barriers and measures. in terms of the tariff elimination, the industry is united and wanting to see quick action on an mfn basis for the tariff elimination through the expansion of product coverage in the existing ita. while the non-tariff barriers are important and certainly a challenge for the industry, i don't think that we would like to see them on tariffs barriers included in a negotiation that just involved the tariff elimination. i think that would take a very

long time to negotiate and we are interested in quick actions among the government, and we would like to see some the negotiated very quickly, and we are hopeful that can perhaps negotiations can be launched soon. >> thank you. i would agree with jennifer that mixing the non-tariff barriers to trade with the tariff reduction is an unnecessarily confusing step. however, i am seeing an explosion of the number of cases and that's an indication i think of the tip of an iceberg because those are difficult cases and i would suggest that there are many more instances of barriers than there are cases, so this is a real problem and it's a problem that doesn't address one half of the room versus the

other half of the room. but it addresses all of the room up against all of the rest of the room. i was unable to because of the complexity of the argument talk a little bit about reached and my concern that then european reach regulation which is creating a barrier to us we manufacture finished goods in the united states would like to import them into europe. now you're being regarded as chemical mixtures, so we need to become suddenly an expert in the chemical raw material to be able to register those materials that are qualified for registration, and we are competing against companies that are downstream users in europe that have no such requirement. well, that regulation is creating a problem in that it is proliferating around the world where i believe countries are

saying we think your getting a bit of a role deal in the e.u., so we will create our own tv t that reflects reaching korea and china, who knows where else. this is an issue that those separate still needs to be addressed very strongly. >> let's go into that point since you gave your philosophical discussion one of the practical point in the wto is technical barriers to trade need to be proportional, proportionate to their name and that should balance out in principal this altruistic motivations. would it be possible for instance in the wto to negotiate a clarification of what this means? because infected never really applied in practice. what do you think about that? >> i would look at my examples

by comparison at what canada has done with their revision and the chemical regulation in canada really does not required individual companies registration. canada was able to gather the information and to do a quick review and prioritize all of the data requirements demanded that either there was going to be a regulation or industries apply for the data gaps, and they've actually begun to regulate some materials on a risk basis. while europe is still gathering immense amount of data i feel like the benefit to the citizens of canada was strong and there was more proportionality. >> do you know anything about

reach? [laughter] >> i think you touched on the very interesting point because that point is called regulatory autonomy, and we have to deal with that in the wto. but i think when we speak about the non-tariff barriers and actually i was quite -- i found the arguments then you made not to mix the terrorist barriers and non-terrorist barriers quite interesting insofar as traditionally we have sought that if the tariffs are not so important any longer and it seems they are not so important any longer we would still like to see them cut or eliminated altogether. we should feel written on the tariff barriers and the actual wrecking crew in the wto deals with terrorists and non-tariffs. we have a problem i can't define with the barrier is, and then

i'd think we made that proposal. of course you can say it violates the wto and i would argue be my guest in the wto. i might even help you. but i have looked at that and i don't think it is as easy as you said. it's because you could argue that a disproportionate. it's a different approach, and i'm actually looking for work because we had at the moment several cases in front of the body at the wto which would bring hopefully some results for what the trade means, and the closed cigarette case against the united states is well known in europe and because they could

be quite an interesting case where we can all see what it means. but we have made -- what we have suggested to the wto as a mechanism to you deal with these barriers in the form that you allow the companies that complain about dimond tariff issues to bring a kind of mediation case that would result not binding on the parties but hopefully helping to understand what is the problem? because of course you can go to the settlement and then it takes about three years which i think is a relatively short time. but very often my companies say that is too much. we have a small problem in the country and therefore try to

solve it in a mediation mechanism through the trade committee in the wto so that we can address these kind of mushroom non-tariff barriers without going. >> we have a couple questions from the audience. >> my question to you is why can't you do the mediation that you propose right now? why can't you go under the wto and actually either raise this in the committee or raise it by laterally? and if you want you can tell people in the council what it means of your issue. i think one of the concerns if i am not mistaken is that a lot of these issues were basically bilateral issues that didn't lend themselves to a big multilateral undertaking. thank you. >> that is a good question.

i think as an industry we can't do anything and you know that. we can't go to the wto as an industry. we have to go to our government and the government doesn't want the issue we are stuck. we think of course you can see it is a bilateral issue and we have market discussions but it would be much more useful to have an independent for the person looking at the issue and that is the reason why we have decided for the mechanism of the mediation that somebody independent says i have a feeling that this goes too far and my suggestion is i don't see a problem and in both situations you are free to use it as a violation. and i think the reach is maybe

too big of a question, but you have i think quite a lot of issues you could at least argue that the importer has a more difficult job to do, and if that is the case, then you can go let's say to the settlement or try to solve the problem with such a process and hopefully the government would react after such a mediation. >> i'm going to have to bring our discussion to a close which i hope can continue over the lunch period. i understand that the lunch is at the back of the room so i would encourage everybody to go and serve ourselves and we will resume here at 1215 for a

presentation by the vice president of the polish industry association. [applause]

>> we have even had a device that we do not do as i did today and come in with a plain old white shirt and a summertime. heaven forbid i don't know if my colleagues feel this would be a better decorum for the senate, and i see the distinguished senator over here nodding but perhaps the people of ohio would be glad to make a judgment on what they want to see me in here in the united states senate. so mr. president, these are just a few of our concerns here in

the senate and i am sure that none of us will do a thing differently in the senate of the united states now that we are on television. thank you. >> president obama and members of the cabinet convened a white house conference on conservation earlier this month. this to our event brought together americans working on a range of projects such as river restoration, urban green spaces and sustainable agriculture. all a part of the president's great outdoor initiative. hosted by the interior department, secretary kenneth cells are kicked off the conference by outlining the administration's conservation agenda. [applause] >> good afternoon everyone and welcome to the white house

conference on conservation, and a special thanks to our friends here at the department of interior for this great room and for all the work they've done to get you in the door and to get you here. many of you were here two years ago when president obama still on the stage to announce the launch of america's great outdoors initiative. he spoke in about the connection that he feels to the land and water of the united states. he said i do for the same reason that all of you do, for the same reason that families go outside for a picnic or campers spend the night in national park or way deep into a river. it is a recognition passed down from one generation to the next that few pursuits are more satisfying to the spirit and discovering the greatness of america outdoors. the summer before the president and the first family vacation in

yellowstone if you track down pictures from the trip you will see their own men gathered before old faithful in the same place that teddy roosevelt stood 106 years earlier during his famous tour of the american west. two presidents and a century apart sharing the same spectacular view, that's the power of conservation. americans understand the value of helping land, water and wildlife. 75 years ago, america's sportsmen felt so strongly about the need for conservation that they asked congress to tax them to pay for it. there is a recreation activity that many of you and others participate in today this tradition lives on the american system of conservation funding and hunters and non-hunters alike a generation of american sportsmen and women thanks for the nation's abundant fish population, access to public land, clean water and health the

wetlands. president obama recognizes that as all of us do from the majestic stretches of yellowstone to the trickle of a local creek we cannot take these places and these traditions for granted. they are not only a gift, the poll also our response to the. and he charged all of us from administration officials to all of you to collect the best ideas on conservation, turn to local communities to lead and make the federal government a better partner in that effort. today we can support some resounding success. from marking the most extensive expansion of land and water conservation and a generation for the public land act to enroll in hundreds of millions of acres of private land in voluntary conservation programs to help more than 2 million acres for hunting, fishing and other recreation on

private land to make a credible progress for store in places like the everglades and the great lakes we have some impressive stories to tell. when we launched america's great old doors we went on the road and had the chance to interact with thousands of people through the country. what can across in those conversations was the importance of place to why people live where they live and why they do what they do for a living. we can speak of conservation as a broader goal, but the truth is conservation is local and sometimes very personal. everyone in this room is here today because of a place that is important to do with their that is an iconic place like the grand canyon or a place only your neighborhood celebrates. and visiting these places, i saw the power of the outdoors and in spite your communities sometimes in surprising places.

like the sight of an old trash dump in the work new jersey that was converted into a park in the neighborhood that did not have any other safe for usable green's base. suddenly in a community that was neglected, a place that even the residents hadn't cared about became something they were intensely proud of and they took care of and transformed their neighborhood and this is true in communities across the country. what is remarkable about what we are all doing here is how its changed the discussion in washington. it gives a voice to the american communities and makes everyone's priorities everyone's priority from the very beginning to get sick, today we consider the incredible progress we've made together and we can use this gathering to share what's working to discuss what can work better and renew our energy and

commitment for building on this success. there's no one better to kick off the conference than the interior secretary kenneth salazar whose chosen to celebrate his birthday today exactly like this. and what do you get for the man who has everything? well, we got him all of you. [laughter] celebrating his birthday like this surrounded by people who care about conservation as much as and maybe more than any of us does. the president knew what he was doing when he put secretary cells are in charge of our public lands and generations of americans will feel the benefit of the leadership he has shown. so please, help me welcome my friend, the secretory of the interior secretary salazar. [applause]

>> thank you very much. it is an awesome day, because we are gathered here with the voices of conservation from sea to shining sea. all 50 states of the united states of america are represented here, so let's give you a round of applause. [applause] what me also say that these conferences and work on conservation have been made possible by a great team of conservation leaders to president obama has assembled here. so, today you will be hearing from and listening to a number of great partners that we have as we move forward in the 21st century conservation agenda in the united states of america. secretary tom vilsack from the department of literature, the chief of the forest service, the

director of the nrc have cut a great administrator for the epa, lisa jackson, you heard from jo-ellan d'arcy from the army corps of engineers and epa one of our great partners, that the purpose of commerce and the work that they do and our interior team. our deputy secretary david hayes, john jarvis stricter of national park service, one michael connor, one, two, three. which one did i forget? i've got bob atty, and i've got mike konar so you'll be hearing from them as well. let's give the team and everybody else who worked on this conference a round of applause because it takes a lot to put together. [applause]

we are on our we have some distinguished guests with us as well. we see in the very front row probably because we pay so much attention to the potomac the great mayor of washington, d.c. fincen ed gray -- fincent gray. thank you for being here. [applause] ..

>> we had a great foundation from which to build. we need to make sure that we continue on the trajectory of having the united states of america being the great place that it is on conservation. over the last year there has been much debate about whether or not the best investment in conservation.

there was a budget that was put on the floor of the house of representatives which would have zeroed out the conservation fund and most of the conservation programs which we also much care about. it was the voices of the people in this room they came together and said no. we will start a program here. we will gather 1100 organizations of the united states of america that will create a march and a voice for conservation. because of your efforts, the conservation budgets have been saved. give yourselves a round of applause for what you have done [applause] >> now, as we had that conversation about where we were going to go with this agenda, all of us were involved in making sure that people understood the importance of what we do in conservation. yes, it is about the conservation legacy of america and the great places like yosemite or rivers or so many objects we work on around the country. but it also is about jobs and

job creation here in the united states. when you think about the 8 million jobs that are created every year through outdoor recreation to anglers, hikers, boaters come up wildlife watchers, it is a huge cornerstone of the economy area do you agree with me that it is a huge cornerstone of the american economy? [applause] >> so when we think about the agenda, which is most important to everyone in washington dc, and most importantly to the american people, it is important for us to always remind them that when we talk about conservation and historic preservation and tourism that it is about jobs that cannot be exported from the united states of america. they cannot be exported from the united states of america. i want to thank you for that [applause] >> now, we have a great foundation from which to build. we have come a long way, standing on the shoulders of the

giants of conservation for many generations. we have done some good things in the last three years, but we still have a long ways to go. i am proud that in the first few months that i was secretary of interior that the president of the united states, working closely with the senate and the house, was able to put together the 2009 public landfill, which he signed in the east room of the white house with many of you present there. and we can't forget that foundation that was raised for america's great outdoors. for the first time in history, we have a national landscape conservation system which we are so proud of for the bureau of land management. besides the conservation system, we projected 1100 miles of wild scenic rivers in america. we said a wilderness was important in this country for conservation. 200 acres of conservation were included, 10 national heritage areas, and 10 national parks.

so thank you, all, for making the 2009 bill possible. thank you to president obama for his leadership and for him signing that bill in the east room. this administration show that conservation and it's its administers and is important to the united states of america. [applause] >> will you then that we were just beginning? there would be some tough challenges ahead. but the president was very clear with us that the way that we are going to do conservation in the 21st century was listening to the america people. getting their best ideas from sea to shining sea from alaska to florida. making sure that the america's great outdoors initiatives that we were taking their best ideas and we would move forward with his best ideas. so yes, the president of the united states, in an announcement two years ago said

that we are going to move forward with the agenda. the people in his cabinet, his conservation cabinet, while his deputy secretaries, went to all 50 states. he listened to thousands of people at community meetings. out of that came the great outdoors report, which the president directed us to implement. and we are implementing it. as director sally said, we are making progress. first, on rural landscapes. the great landscape of america. you'll hear some wonderful people that secretary bill siebel lead about some of the work that we are doing. it is truly historic in nature. when you think about the crowd of the continents and gemstone who have come together in the rocky mountain front and the collaborative process that we have with the u.s. for service and fish and wildlife service and the blm and the national park service, we will protect

the crown of the continent in those rural landscapes and the crown jewel of america forever. we will get that done and we have major investments that we will be making in that program this year. it doesn't stop there with gemstone. you can give him a round of applause. it is important. [applause] >> don't stop with gemstone. i think about jim faulstich who has been a leader around the country, including the wrenching organizations in 29 states now around the country who are moving forward with an approach to conservation that says we can conserve these lands by keeping the ranchers on those lands. we can preserve a way of life for the ranching heritage of america, we can also preserve them for the conservation heritage of america. and so jim faulstich and his efforts in the dakota grasslands of america come if they have done a herculean job as we move forward in the dakota grasslands. i'm proud to announce that we

will be moving forward with the migratory bird conservation commission to put significant funding into the dakota grasslands, as well as a major investment which david and my colleague secretary bill zack will make in the dakota grasslands. important thing about that is it is the duck factory of america. we will protect it to make sure that it is there forever. it is not just the united states that is doing it. it is the ranchers who are leading the effort in getting it done because the they care about their way of life. we can't forget that it is ducks unlimited is a nonprofit partner, who is putting up $50 million as a challenge to getting it done. with that kind of challenge, we are going to get it done. right, jim? >> [applause] >> rule landscapes are important, and so thank you to another part of the country where the everglades, working with the army corps of engineers in so many of our partners down

there -- we have moved forward to make sure that this world heritage site is in fact a world heritage site. we are restoring the flow of water back into the everglades for the first time in history. it is a single largest ecosystem restoration project in the world. we have put a billion dollars into it, and we will succeed in restoring the river. we have a partnership also with the ranchers in the headwaters area. those renters have come together and said we can make a contribution to conservation. we are following the example of the dakotas and montana. give the people from the everglades a round of applause [applause] >> i can speak about many of these laces, but i think people would say that i am thinking too much of some of the elves. rural landscapes. you're going to hear senator

conrad and others, mike on colleagues on the camera. senator will talk about what we're doing and rural america after conservation. the rules landscape is important. but the urban area is important as well. because we know today that most of the people of the united states of america live close to an urban area. more than 80%. so yes, when we talk about the great urban parks of america in the 21st contra 21st century, we are talking about places like st. louis. moving a place in st. louis that was just an art separated by highway separated by the court house, separated from the mississippi river and separated from each st. louis, to create a great park in the city of st. louis missouri, which will serve the 3 million people and connect them not only to the history of the court house, but

to the history of the third largest river in america, the mississippi river. that is a example of a great park. my colleague on the cabinet, ray lahood, and because of the private partnership that was put together in st. louis, we have already put $90 million into that initiative, which will make that one of the crown jewels of a greater part of america. but inside st. louis it is about places like new york. we new york where jon jarvis and the national park service, he had about 10 part services on the waterfront. 20,000 acres that include jamaica bay. yet, in our history when enzo happening is that we operate in silence. on one side the city of new york is on the other side. because of job leadership, what we have done is we have an agreement with the city of new york that we are moving forward to restore jamaica bay. we are moving forward to restore

the hudson and the bronx rivers under the leadership of lisa jackson and so many other people. in the 18 million people who live in the city of new york and surrounding areas will have one of the greatest natural icons right in the middle of america's largest city. that is something to be proud of. i am proud of america's great parks. [applause] >> now, there is one more that i want to brag about because lord davis, jon jarvis come as so many of you were involved in this. there's also there is also a great urban park with jim share of historic preservation. you think about fort monroe. many of you in the historic preservation community talked about fort monroe. it was the place where the first african american baby was born in north america. it is where the first african-american was brought to these shores as a slave. but then it also became a place during the civil war that was

known as freedom fortress. that is where the slaves were escaping and seeking refuge. it was there where lincoln crystallized his thinking about the emancipation proclamation. and so yes, i am proud the president barack obama said we were going to use the antiquities act to create the 397th national park at fort monroe. that is a great accomplishment. i'm very proud of it. it is interesting when we talk about these issues. a group like this, several hundred people in the world room. i asked the democrats that were there, tea parties, republicans, lots of people who were in the room, how many of you support the president using the antiquities act to move forward with the creation of the 397th national park at fort monroe. everyone's hands went up, including those who are right

winged. we are proud of what we did to fort monroe. i could talk about great urban parks, and other places around the united states of america. but let me move on to another, third pillar of america's great outdoors. the rural lanced gerdes, the parks, and the rivers of this country. we are working hard to make sure that the work of the last three decades in turning our rivers and embracing the protection for recreation and economic development for resiliency in communities is something that we make a priority across the nation. so you will hear from a group of experts, including jo-ellen darcy, about what we are doing on some of these rivers. i want to mention a few examples. we are looking at mayor vincent ward here. i still remember, mayor, when my deputy secretary david hayes

said, yeah, that anacostia river, people have been looking about places one of the most polluted bodies of water forever, putting plans back and forth. we really can't get moving, but i think we can, he said. just like he does on so many other things, he said we can get it done. we can get it done if we can get everyone together. the department of interior, the department of defense, working with the city, the anacostia river is on its way back. it is going to be one of the great urban rivers of america and mayor, you're helping that happen and our partners are making it happen. but it doesn't end here in anacostia, it can go to the west, all the way to los angeles where administrator lisa jackson has been working hard to only take on a challenge that only a dream maker can take on. that is to take los angeles river, which is essentially a river that is now mostly

concrete, and to restore that river to be able to provide recreational opportunities and help river ways for the people of los angeles. it is helping in the city of los angeles. it wouldn't have happened without lisa jackson. i can take you to the penobscot river in maine where 1000 miles of river restored will be celebrated this summer. i can take you across the nation to the river under the leadership of so many people here and president bush or an investing in this river, we are undertaking the largest river restoration project in the history of america. there will be 70 miles of water that has been trapped by that dam for a long time, we will now have 70 miles on that river. there are hundreds and hundreds of these projects under that he a bill of america's great outdoors. for all of you river and

easiest, let's give you a round of applause. [applause] >> and for all of you who fish in those streams, all of you who represent those who hike and bike in those streams, and those rivers, all of you who believe that wild life of our nation is so integrated into the water of those rivers, for all of you, i thank you for supporting us on our rivers addenda. let me move forward because i have just a few more minutes. there is a lot more to come. we are just beginning. so yes, i am proud of what we have done because you have been there from the beginning. but we need to do more. so what are we going to do? first, we have to continue to do our work on the landscape level of conservation. we are moving forward with landscape conservation cooperatives. knocking out the united states and beyond our borders in places

like the crown of the candidate and canada. how do consider the landscapes of america or the health of our environment and the help of our people. that is something which we are moving forward with, and we are doing it in large part due to the collaboration that we have. if it wasn't for cheap tidwell and harris sherman and secretary bill zack, we wouldn't have been able to do some of these things, like what we are doing with the conservation fund. we are saying, where are the big landscape level investments that we can make? yes, we have chosen the crown of the continent. yes, we have chosen the pine leaf of the southeastern united states, and we are choosing other landscapes around the country. with the right level of investment, we can make them happen. i am proud of the work that we have done their. but we have to go beyond that. there are working lands which are important to us to make sure that we are conserving. we also have to make sure that we keep them open for ranching

and for all the other purposes for which those lands are used. under the leadership of director abby and the governor from colorado and governor mead from wyoming, we are moving forward with an 11 state western states grass initiative. my hope is that we will be able to conserve those states grasslands, and at the same time we will be able to allow development in those places to move forward. but so there is a lot more to go. let me and conclusions they to all of you that you are the voices for conservation. you are the voices for conservation. when you were needed, you awoke and you came and you walked the halls of congress and said don't neglect the conservation issues of the country. the fiscal storm that this country is going through, those voices of conservation are needed now more than ever. they are needed now more than ever if you believe in the work that we will be talking about here today. we need to have those 1100

organizations with jess crandall and john now. we need to have those voices continuing to be heard in the name of conservation for united states of america. the last point i would make is this. when we think about our history, it is our history which gives us so much hope and optimism for the future. it is the confidence that president obama has in his optimistic view for the united states of america as being second to none. we will be the travel blessed nation in the world, because president obama has said that we are going to do that and we will get it done. we will tackle our energy challenges in a real way because the president has said that we will get that done. because we know it is the right path. and we know that when we look at our history and the type of conservation, it hasn't been the easiest of times when people have stood up and said these places are special and they need

to be protected. it was abraham lincoln in the midst of the bloodiest war that america has ever been in where 500,000 americans killed in that war it on our own soil, who said he's somebody should be protected forever. and now it is yosemite national park. in the midst of the industrial revolution when the forest were being laid bare and streams were being polluted, he said, no, we have to do something different on conservation. today, he is the greatest conservation president of our time. when john kennedy and stewart udall said yes, we will develop our resources, but we will also take a part of that revenue and we will invest it into conservation to the land and water conservation fund. even though yes, there are challenging times, we are extremely optimistic, and you will hear from the president of the united states at the end of

today to talk about some of these very issues. thank you all very much for being part of this historic conference. >> applause [applause] >> environment for texan agency lisa johnson and washington dc mayor vincent gray were part of a panel discussion on conservation programs and local communities. >> i am lisa jackson. i am administrator of the united states environmental protection agency. thanks for joining us as we get settled. i thought it would open with a few remarks, and then we will introduce our panelists.

it is really good to be here to kick off this very important conference. the america's great outdoors initiative is a graded initiative of how agencies across these administration are coming together to align our goals and our work with local communities. that alignment with communities is making a difference across the country. i'm really happy that it epa is the leading part of this effort. our country is incredible landscape from the mountains to the oceans and everything in between has defined us in so many ways. i also know that places we may not think of as the great outdoors, urban waterfront, the parks in our cities play huge part in shaping communities. many of you know i grew up in new orleans, louisiana. i remember how lucky i felt to have the city on one hand, but then when it came to understanding the incredible ecosystem of the gulf, right there on the other. the gulf was and is a joke defining part of new orleans. it isn't just a cornerstone of the local economy, though it is.

it is a part of the culture, the food, and a way of life for thousands of people. between the gulf and louis armstrong park and other great spaces, we were all connected to the outdoor element of our city. i believe it is important for people and families and communities across the country to be connected with the great outdoors right in their own local neighborhoods. open spaces and cleaned ecosystems support healthy and vibrant communities. the cdc found that access to places for physical activity led to a 26% increase in people exercising three or more days per week. we know it works for economy too. an urban park in greenville, south carolina, saw more than $1 million in investment in the surrounding area at in the two years surrounding its creation. stories like this are still

today too few and far between. all too often, especially in urban areas the outdoors aren't so welcoming. too often water bodies are polluted and degraded into a parks are uncapped, littered, and uninviting. that is why this cross agency initiative is so important. for our part at epa, we have programs like our smart growth program and the partnership for sustainable communities that are focusing on green safety and green infrastructure. working to help lower pollution and create spaces that help people get outside. today, for example, epa is in the city of boston and an impressive list of local partners are involved in a city program. it is encouraging people to get out of their homes and make better use of the city's great outdoors. last year we created the urban water federal partnership with 10 other agencies.

tied into her initiative today, that partnership works to transform the waters of urban areas that can serve as the centerpieces of community. the newest component of that work, a program we are calling the urban water ambassadors. these ambassadors will be deployed to projects like working directly along local partners and help connect people to their local waters. having those connections and working closely with local communities gives us a better understanding of specific ways to target her efforts. this leads to important work beyond our urban waters partnership sites. we saw this recently in my hometown. the new orleans that we learned of the community and what they were doing to restore water resources following the devastation of hurricane katrina, we were impressed.

the local peer and lighthouse were stored by flooding. but a group in the area came by to salvage the remaining pieces of the light house structure. they have been planning all these years to rebuild the light house on the same site. once it is rebuilt, they would like the lighthouse to become a place for the community to visit. not just to visit, but to understand the importance of water quality and the vital role of water resources. an engaging community and the work we have learned how important it is to the community. we were able to engage an important federal partner, that is fema. they had some resources that they could bring to the table. soon the new lighthouse education center will serve the new orleans community in the state of louisiana. as a daughter of new orleans and someone who grew up riding my

bike every weekend to hang out at a local lake, this product is close to my heart. i'm glad to see that today the people are rebuilding their neighborhoods, including outdoor spaces so at the beauty can be restored and family can enjoy them once again. it is important for this type of work to happen all over the country. thank you to the america great outdoors initiative, it is. it is happening in los angeles. it is happening in the bronx. it is happening nearby in anacostia, as well. we have work ahead of us to make sure all communities can enjoy it the benefits of open spaces. the epa is brought part of it. i want to thank you very much. we will introduce our panelists who have been working in this field and leaving it for a long time. back, i will tell you up about a leader you have heard from, that

is nancy sutley. thank you, lisa. >> thank you for our panel for joining us. i think lisa described why this urban component of america's great outdoors is so important to many of us here in the room. my home is in los angeles now, and i live close to a illusion luge in part, one of the great urban parks in america. on a sunday afternoon it is wall-to-wall people -- people looking for a place to relax and share time with their families. it is some of those places we share with our neighbors. some of the only spaces we share with our neighbors. it is so important to how we identify with the places we live in, whether it is the mall here in washington dc or our newest

public access to fort monroe in hampton, virginia. it is so important for us to have those places. i think it doesn't come as a surprise or it is not new to leaders in our urban areas that those open spaces are so important to our local economy. we know how important it is that they connected to our cities.

let me introduce our three panelists today who are all of leaders in the urban conservation, and i look forward to our conversation today. of course we are honored to have to the great mayor of the district of columbia vincent gray and our host city today. we have from hampton virginia who talks a little more about the connection between history and public space and also the

interpretive ranger and a graduate from the santa monica outdoor use program and los angeles joining us today. and before i turned the microphone back over to the administrator to kick off the discussion with our panel there will be an opportunity for you to interact with the panel. you have cards in your packet when you walked in and there will be people roaming around to collect them if you have some questions if you would like to address to the panel. with that let's get the discussion going. >> i will but i have to say happy birthday to my brother, ken salazar. happy birthday. [applause] all the very best and a special hello to jo-ellan dorcy one of my colleagues on the resource side of leading this administration for her and her colleagues. >> i'm going to throw you a softball but it's important for

these folks to get us what is happening in the district of columbia. how was a healthy clean environment with the access to rivers and open spaces and parks, how is that a centerpiece of an organizing principal of your administration, why is that so important? >> first of all, we are the nation's capital and this is certainly one of those areas we have to be an example for the nation. a lot of people don't think of the district of columbia as having green's base or waterways. they think of us as an entirely your panaria. yet we have lots of green space, lots of waterways, we have lots of opportunities for hiking and biking and horse trails and other opportunities just with the department of interior in the secretory cells are dedicated refer trails 12 miles in the district of columbia almost 2 miles in the state of maryland. when i look at my own

administration came up with the prairies some of which are the same for virtually any urban area of public safety having a fiscally stable situation being able to improve the educational outcomes for our children with jobs and of course the economy. but a fifth one we have a stone obelisk is sustainability and that is to recognize the importance of the waterways, to recognize the importance of the green space and to recognize the natural assets we have in the district of columbia and to be able to work towards improving those. one of the centerpieces of our efforts in concert with you and with secretary salazar and a number of other agencies have been the anacostia river which is as polluted as any waterway and it is returning to the stage. one need only go to believe in sprigg maryland, get on the boat and ride on the anacostia river. the first thing you appreciate is that this is a aspect and the

district of columbia that you really see is the resources potentially is and third, sadly you appreciate how it's been abused. so we are working to improve that to play an upcoming we have our own efforts in the city and a bad tax in which we charge people a nickel for bags in the city to try to keep the bags out of the anacostia river three we've reduced by 50% of the number of plastic bags the what to get out of the river. [applause] i love to be known as a fiscally responsible mayor focused on public safety who got our children a better education but i honestly don't think there's more fundamental and

sustainability recognizing the imports about our environment and not to engage in our but frankly we are part of the team that is able to plant. >> before i throw it back to nancy, you're the head of the district's department of environment. two things, i have indeed done that a boat ride and i took rowing lessons. you sit there and can't believe you are in the district but you see the challenges ahead of us and second thing some of the fun we get every once in awhile you have to take a picture with a world renowned photographer skilled in the location and the best place and he loved it in the gardens which is the national park right here in the district of columbia become the pictures and zero -- "o" magazine. we are literally right close to

where people live everyday. stat let me turn to when you grew up in los angeles don't have much exposure to the mountains and beaches and all the great nature around los angeles before you begin to work with the park service and the conservation corps and how is this experience affected how you think about your city and the surroundings. >> what attracted me to the family you for the curved and the opportunity to actually go by the neighborhoods the normal, the mundane it takes you rolled and takes it into these wild and open spaces. things like this exist and you're stuck in this urban environment and you don't know what is out there so there's the the opportunity to actually go out and it's just that simple opportunity to have to actually go outside the neighborhood and

get a kind of announcement of that perspective of the world really it's just something we don't get enough of in the community and it's changed my life just a 180-point of view of sustainability i put my family on a diet actually with organic food. i listened to alternative music and i still listen to that but i also listen to npr. laughter koza you get a well-rounded program and having money such a big thing but it's not the effect that isn't just in black and white on paper but it is an animal affects you just a whole range of things.

>> talk a little bit about the importance of our historical sites and what that means for your city and the economy and the hamptons and the hamilton area. >> that's a good question. >> than it a huge amount to the city of hamilton, a city of about 145,000 people, part of the region which is 17 different municipalities which encompasses about 1.7 million people and to the region got behind the park service effort has embraced the park service with the organizations or municipalities bound together to work together to lobby and the organization's got together at the park has an effect on the entire region is not just the city of canton it's a big part with about 565 acres, to enter the 45 acres are now to

the national park service and 80 acres are under easement and it's going to be not only historical researchers at secretaries selzer talked about which is a very important story that there have been 400 years so there's a tremendous amount of history, abraham lincoln planning the assault, robert e. lee helped design and is now the largest downpour ever built in america there and in addition to that there is over 2 miles of pristine beaches on the chesapeake bay that is a part of the park. so you have a historical park and you also have the natural resources park which is just huge and the city that is largely built up and there is hardly any green space, this is just a move to the entire area. >> thank you. >> we heard to the experience of l.a. and maybe one of your fine public schools it's read across america day so i read the with

lorax. [laughter] i was doing my part. let's talk about the connection to the youth and the outdoors and what that means in the course also for education and my passion in environmental the education. >> when i leave here i'm going to read a book. well, one of the things we've done is really try to begin to end at the environmental justice into everything we do with our young people. we have one of the most robust employment programs in the nation. the last year we get 14,000 young people who were employed, and the principal project on which they worked during the summer is what we called green zone employment and the was to get young people out working on restoration working with the cleaning up the parks. everything we could do to engage them with environmental issues. one because it was important to be able to do those continuing cleanup activities but even more

importantly than that, a learning experience for people we hoped would then practice as they become adults. and for them and for the rest of us is an environmental justice issue. it's interesting. i suppose it is not just unique to us but there are so many places you go with this green's base or waterway that so incredibly abused and some are economically challenged areas and we have that in the city. we've been working with the youth and the secretary salazar and the department of interior r. and anacostia but there's one area one tributary to that which is in an area on live in the district of columbia and the of the waterway and a park that becomes so contaminated for a better way of putting it that the people in the neighborhood have begun to call it needle park the reason being there were so many drug dealers. we started to focus on that as

an environmental justice issue in a way of sending a message that people are valued and the natural resources should be tell you and young people have played an important role in being able to clean up. we have other schools we are working with schools near waterways to focus on cleaning of the waterways in the areas and also the department of parks and recreation. the parks didn't come until a few years ago was the department of recreation, says our goal is to involve our young people in every aspect of conservation, every aspect of environmental preserve preservation cleanup so that they contribute to cleaning up the environment in the city but also to learn what conservation means in practice as a routine part of life.

>> i ask from your own experience and from what you've seen in the youth conservation thinking about what would you tell all of us how you engage in the background of thinking about the honduras as a place to spend time or make a career and in terms of how you engage the people of hampton and folks in the region in the discussion of what to do with part monroe. >> the conservationists such a diverse community it helps a lot when you have the diverse backgrounds going to the diverse communities so both parties feel they have a say so in their community and conservation is something that is a word that really doesn't mean much in the community but when you start talking about this is this and if you planned this will it attract this kind of land, you

say it and those words it makes much more sense. so definitely preaching into this has helped a lot. so definitely. >> fort monroe is so incredibly beautiful and important, not just to our local region but to virginia and the country. the contraband slave decision has only become more important in retrospect it marks the beginning of the end of slavery in this country and led directly to the emancipation proclamation so i think the more people learn about it will become more famous and beloved those places people feel like they have to see before they die literally. but in terms of getting the region behind it, we have many citizens groups not the least of which was the park that fought very hard to call this groups and we get the national

conservation partners, the association and natural trust to restore preservation helped us. the citizens of hampton were unanimously behind it. the only people that were dissenting in terms of wanting to make the national park service have been for those that wanted it to be bigger. we had hearings with the national park service at the convention center over thousands of people signed in. we know we had more than that they got tired of signing in. people thought this was important and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. and we got bipartisan support. degette three,, to republican, one is a democrat and we also had another member of congress and the localities we had the congressman scott and wittman and randy forbes all in support of this effort and in addition both senators from virginia, senator mark warner helped us lobby and pursue this. we have a republican governor of

virginia who was 100% behind this. without his help and the help of the administration, we wouldn't have gotten the designation. former governor tim kaine who's a democrat also helped us so it was getting the bipartisan support from the community that helped us to be successful. estimate does anybody want to see it? i will give you a personal tour. >> ury host to the federal government put this initiative is about bringing the government together you spoke kindly about things the epa is doing but who is bringing the government together helping with what you're trying to do? that is what it's all about. what's been your experience and you can tell us what is not

working. what can we do better and what's been your experience? >> our experience has been phenomenally positive because we haven't gotten this kind of attention to the natural resources in ways that have been evident working with you all. i must start with the president to replace been in office now for about 14 months and one of the first meetings are had was with the president who was very clear about the fact that he felt his seven attrition had an obligation to work with the district of columbia because we are the nation's capital and frankly that has been evident my and your time in office working with you and the epa and secretary salazar into the permit of interior to read again, i could cite project after project in addition to the anacostia river which is a major project and, its way to being a major success we could talk of the potomac river which is

another huge waterway. the chesapeake bay that we are signatories on the agreement and the folks in virginia and maryland as well as others. working with the department of defense because obviously the banks of anacostia are right there. being able to work with the trails i talked about earlier and that is continuing to expand that's about 14 miles already installed so my experience working with the federal government with our cities has been extremely positive. while we are a city that raises $5.5 billion through our own tax dollars to be able to support ourselves, we recognize the inextricable relationship we have with the federal government and the keep positive or negative. in this instance it's been extremely positive because 1i respect the fact he will beef as if you live here and as a

citizen of the district of columbia it doesn't get better than that. if we keep doing what we are doing on will be very heavy. >> to talk a little bit about use in particular you said the experience of the young person to get engaged in this when you talk to the pierce what do you tell them about the experience. >> what i do as a park ranger people ask how did you do that, you know, how can i do that? it's hard to say just go here and play and you will get a job. okay if you do this you can employ. talking out what i do it's interesting doing it so having more opportunity is really

important whenever i think about my peers but that just goes hand-in-hand. spragens also how to get involved and how to actually do, how to become a park ranger or work in the match amount believed to national historical areas. >> the mayor is studying the one question we got which essentially is from -- i just turned 50 so i don't know who wrote this -- [laughter] >> clearly they are in a social focus of the process and the threat of ministration. thank you. islamic for you working with your planning to incorporate the water and waste-water treatment facilities into the partnerships to promote better water quality. the mayors i don't know if either of you want to talk about that for the second and certainly i will say a few words

about epa. >> we are clearly working with stone water management and i think that we see the roots as a hugely important contribution to that. i think we have more lead certified buildings now in this city than anywhere in the nation and when you look at the number of works that the fi don't know if we are leading the nation but we are in the forefront, and what a great way to engage in a storm water management to believe recognize the importance of that to the city working with our own d.c. water that serves the entire region to the bible given to the details but we are spending several billion dollars over the next i guess five-to-10 years to be able to have the approaches to storm water management and we would be happy to provide more detail for those

who may be interested. but it is a crucially important part of our own sustainability plan and it's one of the key elements we will be rolling out on earth day and that is our vision for our system of devotee, sustainable d.c. plan and we will then take the next five or six months to do the implementation plan. as competitive as we are we want to be the best in america and we invite you all to compete with us to be the best in america. >> it's a challenge out there. i don't think i'm going to ask if we can get to a couple other questions the corps of engineers during a tremendous amount of work waste water, department of defense as you mentioned earlier, and around the water and waste water issues, the opportunity is to look to the big levers of government, waste water policy, making sure that our jewish treatment plants are operating effectively and efficiently making those infrastructures investments and

eloquently of the things they're going to make all the difference which are local leadership that can inspire and connect the citizenry to things they do every day whether it is the green infrastructure or opening up the green space so it becomes a source of clean water. nowhere is that more evident i think the issues around water and waste. islamic this is a question for the mayor. what led by steve have for the other communities who would like in a national park? [laughter] it's important for everybody to

feel the same page. we work hard to get everybody in the table and get everyone to agree with a good look like and what was feasible and we work closely with of the national park service berkeley with a director jarvis and his senior staff were very open and helpful to us but we started out and said we want to try to get legislation to make the national park and her to get an antiquities act in the nation and you'd see people. we knew we were right and it was important not just to the community but to the entire country people know how special and important the place was. so it helped a lot to be bright and to have we had the facts and the law on our side and my advice would be not to give up

if you think you have an important treasure and deserve recognition and its deserving to start at the grassroots level and work your way out, one of things we did is on president obama came to the joint baseline which part of it is an hunton version at the langley air force base on october 19th and we launched this green campaign, we had the governor wear a green tie, his wife wore a green ribbon, the congressional delegations, school children wearing green, it was raining and we had people on the streets in the national parks and it's my understanding he heard us. it's the grassroots effort getting everyone behind a single goal that made it successful. >> a lot of work to do to become going to ask each of the panelists it's time to close out so we can have the second panel of the president in the state of the union said that you don't have to choose between a clean environment and a strong and

healthy economy, you can have both. i would love to hear everyone maybe 40 seconds, when you hear that what does that mean for the effort that you are leading in the undertaking of the? >> i think the president is absolutely right and anyone that sees those elements as an exclusive has really missed the point. if you look at what we are doing in the city, frankly some of the things that are most undermining of economic opportunities in the contaminated land, dirty air, polluted water, those reduce economic opportunity. one of the things we've done frankly is to start to recognize and get people back to work in the district of columbia being able to move towards conservation, being able to move towards a grain economy represents job opportunities. we now have included -- we are probably the last city in america to create a community college system and have on for two years but if you go there

and look, one of the fundamental curriculum at the community colleges training people in green jobs so they have a two year degree or a credential and they can install green roofs and become experts in a variety of other areas, so i think being able to move in this direction towards a clean environment actually promotes economic opportunity and gets people look back to work as we obviously would like to do. >> welcome this has been a huge boost not just in our local egullet to the economy. the superintendent was on the ground two days after the president signed the executive order november 1st and when people saw that she was there in uniform, people got excited to know it was happening and we've already seen economic benefits. there's the main gate way we are already seeing people buying property and restaurants open, we've seen people get excited

and it's actually from the land speculation going on. the authority that is currently in charge of recently contracted the same planning group that is redoing the lincoln pool and the idea that they are there and the national park service is there and this is all going on has people really psyched and there's connectivity with the beach front in hampton so that community is excited and what's going on as we are going to partner and update the master plan in those areas that have the direct connectivity with the business owners and the community couldn't be more thrilled. >> with the great outdoors program that should have been done a long time ago to get people active and engaged in the outdoors but it gives us the jobs, employment, and especially

now i guess my generation and your generation, it gets people away from tv and historical areas come so it's i wish we would have done a lot sooner. estimate what we think our panelists and join me in thanking our panelists for our great panel and more to come. i think as you have heard from all of our panelists, the urban component of our great outdoors means a lot for our communities and means a lot for our cities and the administrator jackson and dhaka and of our colleagues are excited to continue this work and excited to be a part of its. >> thank you

as a part of the conservation reserve program, the new effort will also set aside land for pollinators such as be used by paying farmers not to use the land for agriculture. estimate you've got to hand it to ken salazar to invite all of us to celebrate his birthday. [laughter] in celebration of secretaries cells are's birthday, we decided we would put together an announcement we think will help encourage conservation, wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation. we have been in the last 30 days looking at our crp program and

announced the general synnott early in february several weeks later we announced planned initiative about 750,000 acres, and today we announced a million acres effort that's divided as follows. 100,000 on the pollinator initiative which we think is extremely important, about to enter a thousand acres will allow us to focus on restoring additional wetlands. we have 400,000-acre initiative that will go into the safe program for highly valued species working with state and local governments, 150,000 for the accounting and bird habitat and we've going to increase the payment on crp to 150 in acre, so this opportunity we think is a tremendous chance to continue

focusing on the good work crp does not only in terms of providing landowners and farmers and ranchers alternative income sources but also focuses on the environmental benefits of crp as well as the habitat. so sick to resell those are -- -- secretary salazar, happy birthday. [applause] we are very blessed and pleased to have with us a great panel today, and i've indicated to the panel before with their permission the interjections are going to be quite short so we can get to the questions and comments. let me start first and foremost with bob come exit of director of the widening wildlife natural resource trust, thanks very much for being here. sitting next to bald is brenda johnson the founder and past president of the alliance which

is an extraordinary effort in the southeast part of the state of the country and next to him is jim, a farmer and rancher and vice chair of the south dakota grasslands effort. thanks for participating in this and last but certainly not least, policy director for the system will northwest forest restoration. so we have a good panel, geographic diversity, and let me start and give you all an opportunity to just talking a little bit about your own experiences with public pressure partnerships and helpless at usda, department of interior how we can do a better job of promoting the partnership and supporting you in these efforts that you are engaged in so let's start with you. >> thank you. i think that the biggest partnership that i've been involved in the last five years

has been the conservation we took on in wyoming and has now moved to utah has the first meeting tuesday and the beauty is summed up by one of the representatives on the team there were 24 people from all walks of life including the federal agency, state agency, county commissioners and one of the old oil and gas representatives said you mean to tell me i have an equal voice with fish and wildlife service? and i said yes, you do, and the of equal voice as yours. the important part of what makes it work is if it is truly a team and partnership no one walks in and holds a trump card, they truly walken and find solutions that are good for everyone and we don't go to the trump the counties and the guy on the ground. everybody's got to be equally and it has to be a level.

>> initiated this effort of 17 years ago sort of a lone voice for a long time with a very few resources to begin to build the partnerships with ten private organizations as they gathered steam and it's been very successful but it was three years ago, secretary, that you and your counterparts of defense find pledging support for this restoration but the agencies have been supportive previously and gave us as well as the land owners that we work with but not industrial landowners and the certainty of the government is

truly interested in the they were trying to do and what before the long term. one of the of comes of that is a regional group on the council that is private, state and federal partners with an equal voice in the council that isn't a decision making council but the council to facilitate communication and coordination to eliminate the effort or the gaps that are inevitably occurred and one other thing is i would say we work closely within our csb and in alabama we form a technical assistance team made up of federal and state and private organizations who are geographically located strategically through the state from any landowner to ask for

help through our organization and refer them. it's worked very well and one other very focused effort is the example we inherited and probably the best working large-scale wind scale effort in the southeast or the gulf coast is the ecosystem partnership just north of a million acres land owned by several which is total or state, and that partnership was the brainchild of that and it has gone that extra step. they've worked across boundaries to work together and they've gone that extra step now and actually have a team, management

team available that can help with things like the control, endangered species monitoring. that has been a boon to those federal and state partners and the crew available to augment their own and it's been really successful and we hope to transfer that model to other landscapes. >> thank you. i would like to address this question and number one on the south dakota level and the ever midwest of course we've had partnerships for a number of years and it's been a gratifying to see different organizations and agencies pulling in the same direction. but what i'm really excited about since that hasn't always been the easiest thing to accomplish is the fact what we are seeing on the national level

and might have you folks from the agencies and the department for all headed the same way and we need to work on this together and that is the greatest partnership i've seen for a long time. so my hat off to you. i want to comment more from the national level this morning 63 salazar has open and kind comments i might add commented on groups agenda and movement on a nationwide basis he used the figure of 29 states involved all private land owners from across the u.s. that have the common goal of improving the landscape and working landscape through conservation. and one of our tag lines is in improving the landscape through communication. and i think that is one of the key things. this is a network of private

landowners or partners for conservation, and we look forward to ending up with hopefully all 50 states on board last year and we've had states from hawaii to the d.c. area and we want to fill in the slots in between city is the partnership hopefully you can use as agencies and we can communicate and provide information and input. >> i'm very happy to be here. i guess the first thing i want to say is that everything that we do is based on the fact that we believe the community's help and the health of the environment are inextricably linked and since our founding 17 years ago also worked as we've done has been done through collaboration. so, i'm going to take for this, and just one of those projects that's called the jul force and stretches 12 counties in eastern

oregon, and we have been working this was from a challenge grant from the u.s. endowment, five-year project and we are trying to promote the community capacity for the collaboration and stewardship. we are working to accelerate the landscape restoration, and resulting from that, creating the market for the community energy facility. so that we have a fully integrated regional approach. and what has been really amazing about this is the foreign service has always been our strong partner. the work with a subdistrict level, the regional office and the washington office. on this project, we were able to get the support of the rural development to come in and also work with us on this. so in addition to all the diverse state cultures that are working in all of these counties all of these individual projects all the way up the scale you've now been able to also bring in that economic time mentioned

which is about investing in the conservation to create the economy is based on taking care of the land making products that sustain that kind of stewardship so i would say the things that make this kind of collaboration work are the commitment to an open and transparent process, good monitoring said that you are all learning and that you have the ability to adapt, and then putting having a good change mechanism which i think is the hardest part knowing when you learn something how do we change it for the next one and the mutual accountability. when we do work together it's not just the fact of the state or county commissioner or the community or the environmental community. we are all accountable for with the ultimate results are and so i think when people take that on that is when it is suspected. >> i listened very closely to all of your answers and i try to

pick out one word from each of your answers that was pretty critical. you mentioned a trust, and i would be interested in the panel views on how do you create trust? if you think about folks who historically have been opposed to one another or historically have had different views about how the areas should be used for natural resources should be used what is the advice of the panel for the government to help build that trust, and for that matter, how do we in government build the trust that needs to be to break us sometimes folks have a little suspicion about what the government's role should be. let's talk about trust for a second. who wants to weigh in on the trust factor? >> i will jump in. you know, i do have a good friend that said to me you don't need to trust people to work with them you just have to have featured objective but i don't know if that is actually true.

but i keep it in the back of my head. i think what build trust is transparency about what's working and what's not working, and the most effective thing that our federal partners do is tell us when they are against the wall and they are having trouble when they are stuck because we can then as their partners work to solve that problem also. and so, and i think it is hard sometimes for federal partners too chollet at at mant when something doesn't have a clear attack in front of them and so i think that is one element of building trust is being willing to be a little vulnerable. that is what is going on. i think following through on your word, you know, if you do make agreements and to codify them, it's really important that that then becomes per your highest. you can't guarantee things, but you can demonstrate that you are prioritizing those agreements that you've made. so i will take this chance to just say that the collaborative

restoration program has been a demonstration of follow-through on all levels. in court again we have three projects in the region and i just think the demonstrated commitment to supporting those people that went through that, that builds so much trust. actions and words go together. >> in the process we undertook and the answer to how do you build trust is the drink a lot of beer and eat a lot of stick together. [laughter] but we didn't have time for that. we get six months thrown out to get this done. i think what she said is right about transparency. but i also think the hardest part of for people to do is to get out of the side they come in on assuming they are there to defend coming and i found this stew's the neutral we spent two

hours giving people locally to realize i don't have to defend the wheel and gas industry. we don't have to defend conservation if you have a strong compelling goal you are moving towards. larry symbol and william and we want to take care of the bird and its habitat and a war economy so that enables people not to slow themselves but look at an outcome that's important to all of us and to be honest with each other so when it but moving too far no one was hesitant to say bringing back. the fed played a great role in that if they will take that deep breath, sit up and be part of the process and that's different than the history particularly in the public land states they felt an obligation to run of the process instead of just

participating and they did an awesome job in william >> one of the things we've done in the project is one of the a great american outdoor landscaping and another case as well the tickets back to the commission commons and also demonstration, linscott successful collaboration, cooperation and stuff that takes the fear of other people joining and the demonstration of other successes, and i know we started with of the tour's command when you can see those stories on the ground, it has to wait. >> the landscape that we worked

in, historical range is about 90% privately-owned so different from a landscapes' the other panelists worked and in that and it required a different approach what we were intent on being honest brokers and our message is consistently then this is the ecosystem restoration as an option. we think it is a good one if you choose it we will help to be successful rather than making fun of -- i'm sure they don't differ much across the nation. they almost always resist being told what they should do with their land and i would be surprised if you found that. but that's the approach we took so this is a good thing to help you be successful if you choose

it. >> one of the words i picked up from your comments earlier is the issue of certainty and i would like to talk for a few minutes about the importance of that. i think that is also in the example another opportunity. talk to us a little bit about how important it is in terms of building trust and having that accountability that wants an investment is made that those landowners have some degree of assurance that things are not going to change. >> an example but this strongly centered is the safe harbor program which is from the isasi get, and that program protection of the species never got started until the no surprises rule that gave them certainty that if they continue to manage the kind of ecosystem they wanted, it

wouldn't be punitive if the result was more restrictions and we are working right now on a similar program with the eastern population that has been proposed for listing in its pending right now just to the landowners that have tortoises on the property and we are working on an innovative banking system to prevent interior, fish and wildlife and the department of defense as their activities may further on their habitats even though they are not yet listed in the act. looking for a way for them to relieve themselves of that responsibility prior year to a

listing from a private land owner, so in a perfect world would result in good conservation and go and that is sort of the community and financial return for the reward for doing goods, and right now the choking point is that lack of certainty for instance the military installation, the reluctance to buy the commodity that may not have value for the service on either hand as a regulatory agency is reluctant to guarantee but we are working through that issue and i think it's critical if we are not able to resolve that. >> i would add with certainty the other is consistent, and i

think the two go hand-in-hand. if the certainty is to mauro everything changes the day after it changes that that's something that will show any kind of member, but if we can create some consistency and obviously we have a great challenge right now trying to take this to ten western states and there's the consistency that isn't necessarily that the guideline is the approach to conservation to be exactly the same in utah as it is in washington state but that the approach be the same so everybody can see how it was done and what those differences are so then some certainty once you do take an action that it isn't going to change immediately. so we built a five-year time period at the end of five years we will look and see how we have done. we are obviously monitoring the schricker skill but people don't feel like they have to change almost on a monthly basis to catch up with the latest that they've heard. estimate how does this apply in the grasslands and forested

areas? >> of the uncertainty in my mind relates to knowing as i mentioned before the government agencies, private landowners are all heading the same way, and they listen to some of the breakout session comments year earlier this morning a lot of times dealing with symptoms instead of the problems come and certainty in my mind is that in reality we really can keep this headed in the direction of america's great outdoors, and i think it's important and especially a number of folks in the audience with urban background that we take a holistically of their approach we use. i don't think anybody in here wants to be the first to get hungry and we need to remember that policy as we move forward. but life proven on our own ranch

that you can be sustainable from the standpoint of not only food production, water quality, quantity, just a number of things, economics, recreation, they are all important. with a common holistic picture of a it is ending at the end point of where we want to be. estimate on the public land the thing that jumps to mind for me is having the consistent program of work, and they include that ecosystems, whatever it is, wildlife habitat improvement, and so i think knowing that there's a consistent program allows the businesses that work with those agencies to get the right crews in place to make sure they have the right equipment and we have lost a lot of our infrastructure, so we're it is interesting threshold of

how are we going to create a restoration economy? what are the skills, what is the equipment, what are the new facilities we are going to need to invest in? so i think programs like the restoration program to help with that because they are creating a program of work that has consistency, not a guarantee, but people have a to predict what is going to happen from one year to the next. and we've done something called the voices for conservation coalition from that work of the organizations across the left, and i can say that from the people that are working on carbon across the board this issue of the relationship with the program of work sums up in every conversation. so i do see it as something for congress making consistent investments so that we can do this. it's very different when --

>> he may be asking too much there. [laughter] let's talk about the fact if you have trust and you've got some consistencies and certainties one of the principal opportunities is how we communicate. and i'm interested in knowing from your perspective what is the organizational structure of the communication, how do you actually get the word out, how do you make sure that people who are in the partnership or in the arrangement are getting the same information at the same time so that you don't create an opportunity for mistrust? you mentioned the word communication. let me start with you. how do you do it there in south dakota and the grassland? >> one of the things, and i already mentioned the importance of the demonstration, and we found that to be low-key. but there's always misinformation out there.

there's always one force working against another, and it's important to take that to all levels. some of the projects that we've done in the state level has opened doors as far as the state government, national the front and the cooperation has been tremendous and i just can't emphasize enough the value in demonstrating. >> how do you court made that message? helpless here. we have the capacity obviously in the department of interior, environmental quality to get the epa week of communication process these but tell us how we might be able to do slightly better job of that. >> i think one of the things that helps is to invest in community capacity. the backbone of most of these efforts comes from a small community-based organization,

and they have a network that connects to a lot of other people that then connect to a lot of other people come so it is sustainable we provide things like the voices for the coalition in the works really well but i also think that it's getting out on the ground. it does get to the localized communication because sending information out doesn't create the dialogue that makes people really understand what the conversation is. so i think being able i guess you can say to vertically integrate your communications strategy i think is one of the best ways to reinforce and really get that systemic change. estimate how do you vertically integrate the strategy across the state lines? when you talk of the lines you are talking about a number of different states. >> we work in nine different states.

our biggest barrier as we began in this effort audience was professionals and wildlife biologists and private sectors as well as the public sector sort of abandoned as the meaningful choice for the landowners, and we decided because we are a very small organization for us to meet with individual landowners was not defective. we still do it, but the biggest return for our investment came working with the foresters and landowners and so we began to teach what he called this very intensive weeklong field classroom oriented academy. ..

landowner to landowner. how do you make sure the message is communicated consistently? >> it's a very different framework because you are dealing with the backdrop of a precluded species and you have habitat issues and all those other things. looking at how do you keep the group working, i think that one of the things we insisted on was if you are going to get on e-mail and send it to everybody than then reply to everybody so there are dirty different e-mail

chains going and people adhere to that and they were honorable about that. consequently, you didn't have that mistrust prop -- cropping up. the other thing and i say this because i know how busy people are but there is so much value in face-to-face meetings and so little value in trying to do it by teleconference. you have some people who can't hear on the phone and the way that we accomplish that, to be perfectly honest, we set ourselves a very very aggressive timeline and said we are going to get it done and it's forced us to meet on a regular basis, and that ilk that trust up and people never had a chance to forget what they did or fall apart from the table. >> the last -- you mentioned this on a couple of occasions and i think of capacity, i think

many different aspects of it but one aspect is the technical assistance, the really very technical scientific information. talk to me a little bit about what government could do better in terms of technical assistance and helping to build capacity. we will talk about that. >> i can comment on that. i use a number of different agencies and programs within agencies and there is tremendous value in those and again, as you folks work together with consistency and not overlap and looking forward to those programs being more beneficial, but as a landowner and especially in the heartland where i live, it's important that we have a different program. we need programs that are short-term.

we need programs that are long-term fixes and in our particular situation, we were able to bring the next generation into the land because of easements and in this case badlands easements that we required through the u.s. fish and wildlife and whether it's eclipse or whatever, there are a number of programs, the crt, appreciate your announcement today. we are losing a lot of crt and the natural diversity of the landscape that is so important and i think a lot of people forget that, that it all boils down to commodity prices and crop insurance and that is all that really matters and it goes a ways further than that. those wetlands out there, what is the value of those? i'm not even going to talk about that. some people would emphasize that as important. i see it as a value as far as

clean water and the fact of what we are doing to the watershed on downstream, so if we don't drown out these small towns, that is important i think and i would think it's important of those people downstream. what is the value of grasslands out there? if we have her grams that strictly.towards what is the best in the commodity for today and don't look at the long-term future, we are going to have a real mess and it is happening in my country now. appreciate all the support that we can get from the agencies on that and that we really need to make sure that the playing field is level. so all the programs that are out there, like i said there is some overlap and especially in course but we do need to keep that diversity on the landscape. the good lord made up for a reason and we need to keep it out there. >> i think that the agencies at the federal level particularly

as it relates to safety has done a phenomenal job. the one thing, and i know you wanted as bad as those us out in the field wanted, is you need to have the flexibility to adapt things as they change. i can give you a couple of great examples. chief dave white from an rcs saw that name, address that need through the sage grouse initiative and did it fast. there was let's get it done. huge, huge benefit to our state, but we see the same kind of thing in the partners program for fish and wildlife where they were able to look and adapt and maneuver and obviously as secretary salazar said earlier, it helps if you can be more nimble and you have adequate money to get the job done and that remains a critical piece of it. >> i probably get 20 to 30 phonecalls a week from cropland

owners inquiring about land and inevitably the first question they ask is, can i make money? i can confidently answer yes and then they almost never asked, can i make more money with another vision and the next thing they say almost without exception is i want my kids to see woods like i remember. that drives more people i think i may give them credit for but in order to make that economic argument robust, being able to provide that reduction in upfront costs or early return on investments with the programs and the programs they really provide really tips that balance and so it is profitable without it but it is obviously profitable with that and it really is a critical component

of people making that leap to get what they want from their land but are afraid to try. there is a strong stewardship out there but people are afraid of making a bad long-term economic decision with children and grandchildren. that really helps us. >> i am interested in the comment you made about energy and the possibilities as you see. talk to me a little bit more about how that helps you make the case and to correct's point about the economics of all this. energy could help make that economic case could net. >> yes, canon what we have seen is that with the forest problem that we have in much of the west, we have a lot of material that doesn't have the traditional market. the emergence of woody biomass to use for thermal and heat energy has really become the approach that we are seeing that will change the economies and

the kind of facilities -- tell an example ingram county oregon where we had the honor of working with the community, with a collaborative group their there was an investment that went to the local mail to start making pellets and so they were able to disperse a vivek products while doing shavings and doing an amazing job. they are deeply involved in a collaborative process and mayhem of agreement from that stakeholder to materialize the airport, hospital and most recently the high schools have changed out their boiler so they are creating the local market for those pellets. now of course they probably make our pellets than they will consume there so there is an interplay but if we are seeing almost 11 of these smaller biomass facilities, community scale creating local energy and that is really part of the transformation process that

creates markets for the energy mix community more self-reliant. enterprise oregon, their schools save $100,000 in energy costs last year and that means that they can hire more teachers. they are a community that has an excellent school, top notch but they only can afford to keep the schools open four days a week so this is no minor thing in a community of that size and scale. when we talk about energy we talk about utilizing the materials that are local and adding as much value as you can locally and capturing as much of that wealth as you can before you send it out of the community. >> you have got a pretty big operation and you must be looking at the economics of all this. talk to me from a landowner farmer perspective. how do you pencil it out? i know that it's important that dam varmint of benefits of it but there has to be some economic equation.

talk to us about the thought process. >> what are the things we learned in the 19 80s was economically we needed to change our operation and as we did that we learned to place natural resources as a priority. up until then, my train of thought was all about productio, production and as we changed our philosophy to basing that on natural resources in our case a simple things such as not putting up all the feed that the cattle required during the wintertime had multiple effects. number one we weren't wasting energy on fee production, or is much. my son-in-law told me a couple of days ago we need to seed with the weather we are having so we do have some unhampered just the fact of being able to go to less

feed preparation, less speeding was a real economic boon and also it saved oil. so we went from being in financial straits to be able to turn our operation around with assistance from many different programs, agencies, partners for conservation as you mentioned, the interior has been a fantastic program. we have used a number of them and we are really able to change our operation around to where energy isn't near as big a concern is what it used to be and we have made a real priority of trying to be efficient from an energy standpoint because it's an item that really concerns me. in the process we also learned that in the meantime because of our management the wildlife flourish. we added new hunting enterprises

for operation that i never anticipated we were going to do but because of proper land management all of a sudden we were being overrun with a number of songbirds. bob probably wouldn't be sitting here if we had taken care of the sage grouse and there is a long lineup of other potential migratory species and songbirds that are waiting and we really need to take a look at our land management as far as preserving them. >> i've got a sign that i can't see very well so do you want to come a little closer? is that what it says? 30 seconds. [laughter] alright, well i think i'd used up the entire 30 seconds by asking about it. 30 seconds, okay. i can read that one.

[laughter] can, this is what you have to look forward to when you have a few more birthdays. we are going to have to pause here but this has been a great conversation. i have found it really informative than i want to thank you all for participating. [applause] president obama spoke about visiting yellowstone national park is a boy and returning years later with his family. he said the nation can grow the economy while still preserving its wild spaces. his's remarks were about 20 minutes.

he is in this house and your house. [applause] the president and i go back a long ways by probably one of my most favorite memories of my time with the president is going to yellowstone with him and the first lady and sasha and bali and watching him stand there at old faithful are walking around the great wonders and icons of our world. he is not only been to yellowstone but also to the grand canyon and the vacation with the family at arcadia national park. michelle loves the outdoors and she will tell you and is doing a

tremendous job. his love and legacy of conservation come from the understanding of the people of this country because much of the introduction he got at the united states of america are with his mother and his grandmother as a very young man when they came across this country. from the time that we came into the obama administration in 2009, he has been leading a conservation effort that we are truly proud of. we are proud of the public lands act which was spearheaded and signed into law and 2009 beginning of his administration. we are proud of the fact that we launched the great outdoorsman program and communities from sea to shining sea and mubarak with much of the agenda you've heard today from the hills of kansas to the everglades afforded to the designation of wortman wrote this president knows what the people of america are telling him and it's about listening to all of you, so we champion rural area, it champion of

conservation a person understands the importance of tourism and job creation for america. ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states, barack obama. [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you. thank you, everybody. thank you. [applause] thank you so much. everybody, have a seat. have a seat. well it is good to have all of you in here. welcome to washington. i want to thank ken salazar for the introduction. did everybody know that it is his birthday today? [laughter] has seen milk that enough?

i just wanted to make sure everybody wished him a happy birthday. at turning 40 is tough. [laughter] we have also got our outstanding secretary of agriculture, tom vilsack, in the house. [applause] are wonderful epa administrator, lisa jackson, is with us. [applause] and i want want to thank all of you for being a part of this conference. now, i have to say that this is it pretty diverse group here today. we have got hunters and fishermen. we have got farmers and ranchers. we have got conservationists. we have got small business owners. we have got local government leaders, we have got tribal leaders. in some of you may just have wandered in, i don't know. [laughter]

but you are all here for the same reason. at each of you has a deep appreciation for the incredible natural resources, the incredible bounty that we have been blessed with as a nation. and you are working hard every day to make sure those resources are around for my daughters, your children and hopefully their children to enjoy. doing that, takes creativity. the great although leopold once said that conservation is a positive exercise of skill and insight, not merely a negative exercise of abstinence and caution. it's not just about doing nothing. it's about doing something affirmative, to make sure that we are passing on this incredible blessing that we have. and you also know that effective conservation is about war than

just protecting our environment. it's about strengthening our economy. when we put in place new commonsense rules to reduce air pollution, like we did in december, it was to prevent our kids from breeding and dangerous chemicals. that is something we should all be able to agree on but it will also create new jobs, building and installing all sorts of pollution control technology. and since it will prevent thousands of heart attacks and childhood asthma it will also take some strain off of our health care system. when we make a commitment to restore a million acres of grasslands, wetlands, wildlife habitat like the department of agriculture and interior did today, were not just preserving our land and water for the next-generation. we are also making more land available for hunting and dishing. and we are olds during an outdoor economy that supports more than 9 million jobs and brings in more than a trillion dollars a year.

[applause] and when we make it easier to visit this country, like we have done recently in accelerating the process for travelers to get visas, we are not just at boosting tourism in big cities and places like disney world. we are helping more people discover our parks and our mountains and our beaches and more visitors means more people renting cars and staying in hotels, being at our restaurants in buying our equipment. so the work you are doing today is important if we are going to grow our economy and put more people back to work. but conservation is also important when it comes to another issue that i've been talking about lately and that is developing new sources of american-made energy. obviously gas prices are a lot

of folks minds right now and we are getting another painful reminder of why developing new energy is so important for our future. of course because it's an election year everyone is trotting out their three-point plan for gas and you know if that involves. you drill, you drill in the neutral zamora. we have heard this for 30 years. the american people know better. they understand we can't just drill our way out of high gas prices. we are doing everything we can to boost u.s. production but if we are going to take control of our energy future and avoid these gas price spikes in the future, then we have got to have a sustained all-of-the-above strategy that develops every source of american energy, yes oil and gas but also wind and solar and biofuels and more. we are making progress on this front. in 2010 our dependence on foreign oil was under 50% for

the first time in 13 years. because of the investments we have made -- [applause] because of the investments we have made the use of clean renewable energy in this country has nearly doubled. [applause] and in my in my state of the union address i announce that we are allowing the development of clean energy on enough public land to power 3 million homes. 3 million homes. that protects our environment and it helps families and businesses. while it is important use public lands to the developing site wind and solar and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we have also got to focus on protecting our planet so that is why teddy roosevelt nature that as we build this country and harvest its bounty we should

also protect its beauty. that is part of our national character and historically it has been bipartisan. that is why even as our country grew by leaps and bounds, we made sure to satisfy places like the grand canyon for our children and our grandchildren. is it's why my demonstration has stood up to protect its waters. that is why president kennedy directed a portion of the revenues from oil and gas production to help communities build trails and ball fields and why my administration has fought to protect the land and water conservation fund. [applause] [applause] that is why the hunters and anglers in this country have always been willing to pay a few extra bucks for a fishing license or a duck stamp that helps protect streams and

habitats, because they want to make sure that their grandkids can enjoy these same pastimes. that is why my administration is expanding access to public lands so that more americans can cast a rod or teach their children how to hunt. we have to keep investing in the technology and manufacturing that helps us lead the world but we have also got to protect the places that help define who we are. that help shape our character and our soul as a nation. places that help attract visitors and create jobs, but that also gives something to our kids that is irreplaceable. all of us have a role to play. one of the first bills assigned after taking office was the public lands bill that protects more than 1000 miles of rivers and established new national parks and trails.

[applause] two years ago thanks to some great work in my cabinet, ken salazar especially, kicked off the americas great outdoors initiative to support conservation projects happening in all 50 states including fort monroe in virginia which just became america's 396 the national park. [applause] right now we are restoring the river of grass in the everglades, providing clean water to millions of residents. [applause] creating thousands of jobs, construction jobs in southern florida. we need to keep moving forward on projects like these that i know we have got ranchers and farmers and landowners here today who represent places like the dakota grasslands and everywhere in between.

we need to keep working to protect these incredible landscapes that all of you know so well. the bottom line is this. there will always be people in this country who say we have got to choose between clean air and clean water and it growing economy, between doing right by our environment and putting people back to work. i'm here to tell you that is a false choice. [applause] that is a false choice. [applause] with smart sustainable policies we can grow our economy today and protect our environment for ourselves and our children. we know it's possible. we know it because it has been happening in communities like yours, where compromise isn't a dirty word, where folks can recognize a good idea no matter where it comes from. a while back i heard a story

about the rogue river in oregon. every year the road is filled with salmon swimming upstream to spawn. but because factories were allowed -- allowing warm water to run back into the river the temperature was becoming too high for the salmon to survive so to fix the problem the town could have required the company to buy expensive cooling equipment but that would have hurt the local economy. instead they decided to pay farmers and ranchers to plant trees along the banks of the river, and that help to cool the water at a fraction of the cost. so it worked for business, it worked for farmers, it worked for the salmon. those are the kinds of ideas we need in this country, ideas that preserve our environment, protect their bottom line and connects more americans to the great outdoors. and this is personally important to me. some of you know that i grew up in hawaii mostly, it and we got

some pretty nice outdoors in hawaii. [laughter] and you spend a lot of time outdoors, and you learn very early on to appreciate this incredible splendor. but i remember when i was 11, i had never been to the mainland and my grandmother and my mother and my sister who at the time was two, decided we were going to take a big summer trip. we traveled across the country. mostly we took greyhound buses. my grandmother was getting -- she had some eye problem so she couldn't see that well so she was a little nervous about driving long distances. sometimes we took the train. we went to the usual spots, disneyland. i was 11, right? [laughter] but i still remember traveling

up to yellowstone and and coming over a hill and suddenly just hundreds of deer and seeing bison for the first time and seeing the old faithful. and i remember that trip giving me a sense of just how msn have grant this country was and how diverse it was and watching folks digging for clams in puget sound and watching ranchers and seeing our first americans guide me through a canyon in arizona. it gave you a sense of just what

it is that make america special. and so when i went back to yellowstone with ken and my daughters, that was the first time they had been there and i'm standing there. i'm thinking not only about them and the first time they are seeing this but i'm also remembering back to when my grandmother and my mother had shown me this amazing country so many years before. and that is part of what we have to fight for. that is what is critical, making sure that we are always there to bequeath that gives the next-generation. [applause] and if you will work with me, if you will work with me i promise i will do everything i can. [applause] i will do everything i can to help protect our economy but

also protect this amazing planet that we love and this great country that we have been blessed with. thank you very much everybody. god bless you. god bless america. [applause] [applause] [inaudible conversations] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪

the house armed services committee will hold a hearing on military operations in afghanistan. >> federal communications chairman julius genachowski was

on capitol hill monday to testify about his agency's budget. last month president obama sent his 2013 budget request to congress allocating just under $347 million for the fcc. the total includes funding for expanding program services nationwide. >> the hearing is going to come to order and i would like to welcome our two witnesses, chairman genachowski and commissioner met cowell from the federal communications commission. thank you also much for being here today and for testifying on the fcc's fiscal 2013 budget request. while the fcc is funded by congressional oversight over your budget and important check on agency activity, this committee is committed to fiscal responsibility and we intend to make sure that all agencies under the subcommittee's jurisdiction are operating both

efficiently and effectively. the fcc is an agency that plays an important role in their country's telecommunications television radio internet and cable industries. these are services that are critical to the american communication and business and with technology changing faster and faster and the fact do you all have to keep up, it's amazing that you can do so while not hindering innovation. over regulation of american can indication systems first our economy at a time when we are still coming out of a recession and i will say chairman genachowski knows this, i still have serious concerns about the net neutrality order as well as the commission's proposed disclosure of broadcasters political clout which we will talk about after you all testify. while i appreciate the agency's eagerness i think in many cases it would be helpful to slow down

and consider the ramifications of the commission rulemaking and lots of different areas. i should also know that you have made some inroads in reforming the universal service fund however i think there are serious concerns about the funds that yet to be addressed and just so you all know i have heard a lot about this last week. we do appreciate the job that both you and your staff do and wants again i welcome you and look forward to your testimony and now i would like to recognize my friend and colleague joe serrano for his opening statement. >> thank you so much madam chair. you should know that whenever we meet here the first thing we discussed quietly here is baseball that today we are discussing the fact that both of our district plans for our future political districts are the federal courts and we have no idea where we are running this year so -- >> actually i think ours have been in the federal court and the state court and the state

supreme court back to the federal court. and i'm not sure that most judges undertake their judicial responsibilities thinking they are going to draw congressional lines at the same time. >> left the record reflect that it arizona stunned. spin missouri was third down and then we have lawsuit filed late. >> we measure once been cut twice in arkansas. [laughter] thank you madam chair. i would like to join you in welcoming tim -- chairman genachowski and chairman mcdowell. like many of the agencies we do with in this committee the fcc plays a vital role in our everyday lives even though much of its important work takes place behind the scenes. the role of the fcc grows in scope and importance as technology becomes more affordable and as more people have access to the internet or a

variety of devices. i will be interested in hearing whether these rapid innovations you have there resources to ensure that consumers are protected in the marketplace. as improvements in technology give more people access they also mean that resources move our line and internet access has been vital in order to get a good education, find a job or simply to connect with family around the world. therefore i'm interested in making sure that everyone who wants access can get it. one way to increase access to broadband is by allowing more spectrum to be used for that purpose. i know that in the coming year and important goal for the fcc is to increase the available spectrum for broadband use it to congressionally mandated spectrum auctions. i look forward to hearing more details on how you plan on conducting these auctions and what you respect the results of them to be. we will have time to discuss these issues as well and your

other prior use during the question period so for now i want to thank you both for your service and for appearing before us today and please make sure that my new ipad works properly and nothing interferes. >>. >> you have the new, new one? >> pass it over, pass it over. [laughter] now i recognize you chairman genachowski and has he said try to limit your opening remarks to five minutes of that will give us a little more time for questions. >> thank you very much thank thinking members runner and the other members who are here. i appreciate the opportunity to appear before you on the fcc 2013 budget. i'm proud to say few if any federal agencies deliver a higher return on investments than the fcc. spectrum auctions have raised more than a billion dollars for

the u.s. treasury in the past two decades anacondas regard the economic value created by fcc auctions is being 10 times the number or $500 million in total. a few weeks ago, congress authorized the fcc to conduct voluntary incentive options, new market-based mechanism to repurpose spectrum to flexible use such as global broadband. incentive auctions suggested by the fcc's two years ago or the opportunity to unleash vitally needed spectrum broadband and create tremendous value for american consumers while raising billions of dollars for deficit reduction. at the fcc we are focused on faithful implementing the incentive auctions and maximizing the opportunities for our economies and all americans and it's a privilege to be entrusted with this responsibility which of course will require a great deal of work and effort in the agency or cleanse it of auctions are a

president. the u.s. would be the first country in the world to conduct them. it will be a multifaceted task affecting major parts of our economy involving many challenging questions of economics. fcc staff is analyzing the incentives action law as well is assessing the challenges ahead in developing a plan for implementation. incentive options are part of our overall agenda to unleash the opportunities modern technology to benefit all americans. we focus the agency on broadband communications, wired and wireless. together with my colleagues at the fcc we have made tremendous progress in the past three years taking many steps to unleash unleash investment innovation and job creation. these include freeing spectrum for those licensed and unlicensed use, modernizing and reforming major programs like universal service fund and removing barriers to broadband are going to deep private investment innovation and job

creation are up across the broadband economy. these metrics which are outlined in my written statement art up both when looking at rock band application services and also when looking at broadband providers and network infrastructure. in 2011 the u.s. medications technology sector grew three times faster than the overall economy. broadband is helping create new jobs all across the country and not just for engineers although it's vitally important that we lead the world and engineering talent but also for salespeople construction workers and small-business owners increasingly using the internet to boost sales and lower cost. we are also now head of the world and deploying for g. mobile broadband to scale. 64% of the world the world's 4g lte subscribers are here in the u.s. and these next-generation networks are projected to add $151 billion in gdp growth over

the next four years creating an estimated 770,000 new american jobs. in today's hyperconnected flat world, the success of american companies depends on a dynamic and open global internet. we are working we are working to preserve the internet and oppose proposals that could stifle innovation. the health of our broadband economy would also be enhanced by closing broadband gaps so the fcc is focused on bringing universal service into the broadband era. him millions are pro--- or plan adopted unanimously in october to modernize the universal service fund to spur buildout to hundreds of thousands of burr homes in in the near term and puts us on the path to universal broadband by the end of the decade but keeping the funds on a budget. together with my colleagues we drafted a set of reforms that will drive efficiency on fiscal

responsibility and bring broadband to rural america. in addition to the broadband deployment gap prayer making strides on the adoption gap. nearly one third of americans, 100 million people have not adopted broadband. that connect to compete initiative was government nonprofit and private sector leaders to tackle barriers to adoption was several public/private solutions to major challenges. public safety is a core mission of the fcc and the agency is working to harness the power of communication to make our community safer. we are working with multiple stakeholders to advanced next-generation 911. we accelerate the launch of wireless emergency alert that allows local state and federal authorities to send target works to mobile devices in an emergency. the fcc provides value by protecting empowering consumers working with wireless providers and and a concert to build shock that has caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in on spec

to charges. working with private sector public and nonprofit sectors we develop a cyberplanet to help small businesses guard against cyber attacks which are estimated to cost small businesses who are targeted an average of $200,000 in damages for work on cybersecurity continues and i'm hopeful that working with private and public stakeholders honored by his three we can make real process on solutions that will create greater security in act iii negations networks. the fcc is committed to smart responsible government and we have taken significant steps to modernize or programs and make sure they are fiscally responsible saving billions of dollars. carrier compensation lifeline our -- these are cases of modernize programs whose reforms are collectively yielding hundreds of millions of dollars in annual savings already. in addition to her programmatic changes we have also would be

the agency's rules asking tough questions to make sure the agencies operating efficiently and effectively. we have already eliminated more than 200 outdated rules and five the necessary data collections and identified two dozen more data collections for elimination. internal reforms like consolidated i.t. and new financial system has saved the agency millions of dollars and we have done everything i have seven more. maximizing the ability of 21st century communication technology to deliver value to the american people and doing so with the smart and responsible way that the wreck hurts for the past three years and that is their plan for the year in the years ahead is reflected in our 2013 requested budget. templeman a responsibility on the commissions it the budget requested 2% increase over the previous year from 339 million to three and 47 million this is

flat adjusted for inflation. as in previous years the amount will be derived from -- the budget includes a few small new initiatives primarily technology investment designed to save money and public safety investments aimed at saving lives. the budget also provides a flat number full-time employees which represents the lowest number of ftes in 10 years. the number -- excuse me. let me just conclude, the wired and wireless broadband sectors are critically important to our economy and our global competitiveness. i look forward to working with the committee in implementing the new incentive options law and unleashing the opportunity for communications technology for our economy and the american people. thank you. >> thank you chairman genachowski. i do want to compliment you want finding the $6 million plus in saves -- cost savings and efficiencies and that is something we can talk a little bit about. i wish all agencies were doing what you all were on that front.

>> thank you chairwoman emerson and ranking member estrada. it said privilege to be here today and this is my first appearance before the subcommittee so thank you grabbing me. i would like to focus on having the three matters currently before the commission. number one implementing this spectrum incentive law that chairman outlined, number two the contribution reform and number three examining the complexities of proposed rules governing the maintenance of political at protecting files by tv broadcasters and lastly i would like to address the sector possible regulation of internet governance by an arm of the united nations. first the spectrum reform to make more parts of our airwaves available to american consumers. as a result the spectrum law passed by congress the fcc will creating a dot the most complicated spectrum auction or auctions in history. meanwhile the debate continues over whether or how the fcc should shape the outcome of this process.

history has proven that regulators attempt to overengineer spectrum auctions often backfire so i hope all of this can apply the lessons learned to the commission passed deaths as we implement this new law. a rule should be minimal and future-proof allowing for flexible uses of spectrum as technology and markets change in the years to come. for the more i'm optimistic that we can create a structure that offers opportunities for small, medium and large companies to bid for insecure licenses without having to exclude any player from the auction. i'm confident that the fcc can get it right this time if it avoids regulatory hubris. second is the urgent need to fix that taxing side of our universal subsidies. last fall the commission accomplished a complicated task of modernizing a high-cost portion of the uss by repurposing it to support next-generation communications technologies all while keeping a lid on spending and the chairman and my colleagues to mission or

are cops and commissioner clyburn deserve a lot of credit for that. thus far however the commission is addressed only some of the spending side of the usf equation. perhaps even more need to fix a taxing that taxing side of the electorate come in other words how do we pay for all this? the the caw tradition factor of attacks on american consumers has risen each year for approximately 5% in 1988 to almost 18% this year. this trend is unacceptable because it is unsustainable. we need to update this automatic tax increases in as possible. third is my concern regarding proposed rules of the so-called political file. transparency is a laudable public policy goal goal of special in the context of political spending. furthermore providing broadcasters with more cost-effective means to comply with fcc rules is also a noble endeavor. congress should be aware that

the proposed rules create many factual legal and pragmatic complexities that are not obvious at first glance. the political file contains information regarding candidates seeking to purchase political ads on tv and can shed light on the spending patterns such as campaigns local committees, third-party groups super pacs in such. unlike other parts of the broadcasters extension five however the political file do not lead to broadcasters serving its local community of license for the political file as a tool for examining campaign spending rather than broadcaster behavior. congress should be aware that the department could be experiencing mission creep that the fcc. in october of last year the commission reverses 2007 decision regarding file mandates with little to no evidence that candidates and representatives or members with local communities served by broadcasters have been unable to access required information let

alone that the benefits outweigh the costs. in fact the evidence before the commission today illustrates the proposed rules could cost the community broadcasting industry $15 million in upfront expenses to uploading expensive paper follows -- files and upwards of $140,000 per year in recurring costs to maintain the information in real-time but the fcc has proposed. before going further policymakers should be thoughtful and levered up when examining the nuances that could arise as a result of the proposed rules and i still see many unanswered questions. for instance number one, is the public policy goal of rules to produce more transparency and campaign spending? is the fcc the best agency to achieve such ends rather than the federal election commission? number two, what fcc requirements that are duplicative to fcc rules violate paperwork reduction act and

number three and my many others and they're more in my written testimony where's the fcc and singling out tv broadcasters for such disclosure or car and twin political campaigns spend money on it plethora of outlets that influence voters such as radio, newspapers, the internet, direct mail, outdoor advertising, tayeb -- cable-television settle rate radian tv paid activist to knock on doors and many for voter our reach. i'm hopeful that we as policymakers can strike the right balance between protecting court call political speech and encouraging transparency without disproportionally perjuring -- versioning one of many outlets. finally all of the should be concerned with a well organized international effort to give an arm of the united nations known as the international telecommuting sheets and -- telecom eight telecommunications union any treaty. the internet has flourished under deregulation not only

within our country but throughout the world as well. some countries such as china, russia, india, iran, saudi arabia among many many others are working hard to change that and we must stop them. thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you today and i look forward to your questions. >> commissioner mcdowell it is nice to have you here too. i want to get into this whole issue, if we could, of political flywheels. i am sure you have all read "the washington post" article this morning and i am curious chairman genachowski wearing your governing staff -- statutes doesn't say that the fcc has responsibility or the authority over campaign finance issues? i'm kind of confused by that. >> sure. congress in 2002 directed,

required broadcasters to disclose information about campaign ads etc.. there was a codification of fcc rules that have been effect for a long time in the statute provides the fcc to carry out those provisions but if i could, the issue that is raised in this proceeding is part of a broad effort to move from paper to digital and in fact, the suggestion in a proposal that was made in october which was based on a widely praised report from about a year ago, identified the broadcaster public file as one of the last pieces of disclosure that is truly on paper and in fact the files literally are in filing

cabinets at tv stations. and so the proposal in the notice was to enable the movement of all of that information from physical public files to digital. it's a proceeding that is open now. we are look carefully at the rec erred and all of the issues. >> okay so tell us what information is available in the political files. in other words, i mean i know that i personally do not have to go to a tv station and i can get this information instantaneously as mike campaign and all of our campaigns do today so consequently i am curious why we are doing this. what is said in the political file, tell us all of the pieces of that. >> again, the proposal in the notice would apply to all of the different elements of the public file.

the items broadcasters have to maintain in their public file are described a statute. the date and time of ads and the purchaser rates is listed in statute. they are in the public file and the intended audience of the public disclosures the public at large. any number of the public that wants to see that information can get it but they have to go to the station and knock on the door and asked to see the public file. >> i don't agree with you on that because for example or media liars gave us all that information in the last campaign instantaneously. we knew within 10 or 15 minutes and i can assure you my meet immediate buyer was not able to go to a kentucky tv station when they were in st. louis in 15 minutes south i think a lot of that information is available now. i guess i am confused as to why you all are doing this when i can still get the