Corps of Engineers Environmental Leadership Cited as Key to Selection for Stewardship Award

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Corps of Engineers Environmental Leadership Cited as Key to

Selection for Stewardship Award

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TO BUSINESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

Corps of Engineers Environmental Leadership Cited as Key to

Selection for Stewardship Award

CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS, Jun. 19 -/E-Wire/-- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' work to restore the nation's wetlands by establishing partnerships with private industry has been cited in its selection for the Paul Keough Environmental Award for Government Service by the Environmental Business Council of New England (EBC).

The Corps' New England District will receive the award, "in recognition of outstanding environmental leadership for developing and implementing comprehensive environmental restoration services and the corporate wetlands restoration program," during the EBC's annual meeting and awards ceremony, June 19, at the Seaport Hotel in Boston at 7 p.m..

According to the award nomination, the New England District was instrumental in all the Corps activities, from establishing the initial programs and activities, to developing the communications structure for the regional, then national, corporate wetlands restoration program. The New England District was also selected for its role in the Coastal America Program and its national corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership Program.

"The Corps of Engineers has for the past several years been very involved in environmental protection and restoration projects," said Col. Brian E. Osterndorf, District Engineer. "In New England, we have led the way, through continuing authorities granted to us by Congress and with additional help from state and federal agencies and Coastal America, to focus on preserving our valuable habitat and fixing things that might have been damaged when we didn't well understand some of the costs of progress. With the added, enthusiastic involvement of our corporate partners, we, collectively, will make great strides in safeguarding our New England environmental treasures."

The National Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership (CWRP) is a voluntary public-private partnership in which corporations join forces with federal and state agencies to restore wetlands and other aquatic habitats. The partnership also includes local communities, non-profit organizations, and academia.

"It is important to understand that the individual ecological restoration projects of the Corps -- such as the Galilee, Sagamore and Broad Meadow salt marshes and the Smelt Hill Dam removal -- are part of a regional effort by the a team of federal agencies known as Coastal America, working together to reestablish degraded aquatic habitats in all six New England states," said William Hubbard, chief of the Corps environmental resources section in New England.

Critical to the regional, then national, success of this wetlands restoration program was a communications structure that not only coordinated the activities of the many Federal agencies and the major corporate partners such as Gillette Corporation, but one that both listened and acted on the concerns of the public who would be impacted by the restoration activities, said Larry Rosenberg, chief of public affairs for the Corps in New England.

"We believe that a reason for the Corps many environmental successes in New England is simple, we truly listen and respond to the many individuals whose lives are affected by our projects," said Rosenberg. "While we all agree that these environmental restoration projects are important, without the support of the communities we would not realize the solutions that impact positively on our quality of life in New England."

While the Corps played a major role in the development, implementation and communication of the environmental restoration activities, and the establishment of the corporate wetlands restoration program, "it was a total team effort -- involving the hard work and dedication of many individuals, Federal and State agencies and the corporate partners -- that are responsible for the overall success of the programs," said Osterndorf. "We are successful because we -- the Coastal America partners, the business community, and the public with their representatives -- work as a team, finding solutions to environmental concerns, and implementing them."

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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