On March 2, the Department of the Interior hosted the White House Conference on Conservation ? Growing America's Outdoor Heritage and Economy. The conference is part of the administration's America's Great Outdoors initiative and its goal was to strengthen partnerships and identify next steps in advancing community-driven conservation and outdoor recreation. In addition, the conference served as a platform for the Administration to spotlight a number of announcements it made during the week supporting land, water and wildlife conservation, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

During his remarks to the crowd of over one hundred participants from all fifty states, President Obama stated: "The great Aldo 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 more than just protecting our environment it's about strengthening our economy? There will always be people in this country who say we've got to choose between clean air and clean water and a growing economy, between doing right by our environment and putting people back to work. And I'm here to tell you that is a false choice. With smart, sustainable policies, we can grow our economy today and protect our environment for ourselves and our children."

The series of new programs announced by the Administration started with a Memorandum of Understanding between Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Education Secretary Arne Duncan that formalizes and expand programs using public lands as outdoor classrooms. The agreement will help provide children with access to the outdoors to improve their environmental literacy and encourage hands-on learning about nature and conservation. The new programs will support educational programs focused on science, technology, engineering and math.

Other announcements included the release of a report on the economic impacts of national parks on nearby communities, the creation of a National Water Trails System to increase access to water-based outdoor recreation, a USDA initiative to provide additional opportunities for enrollment under the Conservation Reserve Program (see related story), and a commitment to increase funding for the Prairie Pothole Region (see related story). (jas)<-->