Office of the Secretary |
Contact: Frank
Quimby
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For Immediate Release:,April 21, 2004 |
202-208-7291
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Interior Leaders Celebrate Earth Day at Events across the Nation Cherishing Our
National Parks; |
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Interior Secretary Gale Norton and her assistant secretaries and bureau directors are participating in Earth Day events around the country to celebrate the nation's natural heritage, the land and wildlife administered by the Department, and to highlight restoration efforts at major national parks. Norton will mark Earth Day
at Yosemite National Park in California, where she will tour the Lower
Yosemite Fall restoration project that has removed a parking area, re-landscaped
the visitor access and circulation areas, and restored streamside and
forest habitat. The 53-acre site is the park's major attraction. Lynn Scarlett, Interior's assistant
secretary for Policy, Management and Budget, will pay an Earth Day visit
to Jefferson National Expansion Memorial to review Gateway Arch to inspect diorama
repairs and plans to rehabilitate deteriorating mural walls; and the Old
Courthouse to review the planned replacement of the Old Courthouse roof
and other ongoing restoration projects. National Park Service Director Fran Mainella will visit Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to join students from Bosque Elementary School in upgrading and resurfacing a trail near the Las Imagines Visitor Center. Mainella also will talk about significant successes in efforts to reduce the NPS-wide maintenance backlog and preparations by the Park Service to welcome millions of visitors this summer to parks across the country. Craig Manson, assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks will be visiting Ellis Island for a meeting with the Statute of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation Board Meeting. Minerals Management Service Director Johnnie Burton will deliver an Earth Day speech on beach renourishment to residents of Cocoa Beach, Florida. Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals Management Rebecca Watson took part in an Earth Week event at the C&O Canal in the Georgetown section of the nation's capital. Reclamation Commissioner John Keys will take part in a April 24 Earth Day event in South Salt Lake City, sponsored by the state of Utah's Department of Agriculture and Department of Natural Resources. The project will plant trees on Lower Mill Creek to promote the governor's watershed initiative. U.S. Geological Survey Director
Chip Groat issued an Earth Day Proclamation Assistant Secretary David Anderson joined an Earth Week event at Baca School near Albuquerque, New Mexico, commemorating the new facility's designation as a Leadership in Environmental Engineering Design building. Office of Surface Mining Director Jeff Jarrett delivered opening remarks April 19 to the American Society for Mining and Reclamation in Morgantown, West Virginia. Interior employees are celebrating Earth Day at events around the nation, including an event in Rawlins Park at 18th and E Street NW in Washington, D.C. Information on federal government-wide Earth Day activities is on the website of the White House Council on Environmental Quality at www.earthday.gov.
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