PRESIDENT BUSH SIGNS WETLANDS ACT

President George W. Bush recently signed into law the reauthorization of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. It's purpose is to encourage voluntary partnerships among public agencies and the private sector to conserve North American wetland ecosystems. It establishes an infrastructure and provides a source of funding to accomplish that end. The Act funds the protection, restoration, management and enhancement of a wetland ecosystem to benefit wetland-dependent wildlife.

According to President Bush, "Today we take important action to conserve North America's wetlands, which will help keep our water clean and help provide habitat for hundreds of species of wildlife. Through this legislation, the federal government will continue its partnership with landowners, conservation groups and states to save and improve millions of acres of wetlands. The North American Wetlands Conservation Reauthorization Act shows our concern for the environment and our respect for future generations of Americans. "With this signature today, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act will be reauthorized for five years. The law authorizes federal money to match donations from sportsmen, state wildlife agencies, conservationists and landowners. Since 1991, more than $462 million in federal grants have helped to encourage $1.3 billion in contributions from others."

"Together these funds have restored streams and rivers, re-established native plants and trees, acquired land that is home to more than a third of America's threatened and endangered species. Because about 75 percent of the wetlands are held privately, we need to encourage cooperation with our landowners. This legislation shows that when government, landowners and conservationists work together, we can make dramatic progress in preserving the beauty and the quality of our environment." Bush also thanked the Congress for supporting this legislation.

Proposed projects are ranked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's North American Wetlands Conservation Council. Selected, prioritized proposals are recommended to the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission for consideration of funding. Membership consists of the Secretary of the Interior, who serves as Chairman; the Secretaries of Transportation and Agriculture; two Members of the Senate (one is Senator Thad Cochran); and two Members of the House of Representatives. The Commission is authorized to approve, reject or reorder the priority of the proposed projects.

Press Briefing - June 5, 2002
"Q Ari, if I could change subjects for a second. This morning you said that the President quoted a speech, indicating that the President believes that human activity is largely responsible for the increase in greenhouse gases. But I'm wondering if he also agrees with an EPA report which indicated that human activity is likely the cause of global warming?

MR. FLEISCHER: Let me just read from the President's statement of June 11th on global warming, and let me read from the recent report the EPA submitted to the United Nations. And I think you'll hear that on the key issues, they really sound very, very similar. This is the President on June 11th in the Rose Garden, in a speech where he announced his global warming policies.

"Concentration of greenhouse gases, especially C02, have increased substantially since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. And the National Academy of Sciences indicate that the increase is due in large part to human activity." That's the President himself speaking.

Here is from the report, page 4, that was just submitted to the United States by the EPA: "Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth's atmosphere as the result of human activities, causing global mean surface temperature and subsurface ocean temperature to rise. While the changes observed over the last several decades are due most likely to human activities, we cannot rule out that some significant part is also a reflection of natural variability." And I think what you're hearing is the same thing.

Q I'm glad you make the connection explicitly, since the President addressed greenhouse gases, but not specifically global warming. Does the President agree with the conclusion that human activity is likely the cause of global warming?

MR. FLEISCHER: When the President cites the National Academy of Science as saying that the National Academy of Science indicates that the increase is due in large part to human activity, I don't know how the President could say it more specifically than that.

MR. FLEISCHER: No. Here's -- the bottom line for the President is, number one, he has made a proposal that he believes is a proposal that not only can reduce the problem of greenhouse gases and global warming, but also protects the American economy, so the American economy can lead the world in technological and scientific advances that also have an effect in reducing pollution.

The President has said, citing the National Academy of Sciences, that the increase is due in large part to human activity. The President has also continued, citing both, now this report the EPA has sent to the United Nations, previous evidence from the National Academy of Sciences, that there's uncertainty -- and the recent report notes that there is considerable uncertainty. That's the state of science, and the President agrees with it. I don't think people dispute that.

MR. FLEISCHER: Again, when the President cites a report by the National Academy of Sciences that indicates the increase is due in large part to human activity, I think you have two reports that are very similar.

MR. FLEISCHER: I think the EPA issued a report that says the same thing. And I think the President was also reflecting about some of the way it was covered, that made it sound as if the report was somehow inconsistent with what he had said previously.

Q I don't think he reflected at all, he just said that, I saw it put out by a bureaucracy. What did he reflect on?

Texas Gov. George W. Bush has changed his tune on a key environmental issue, saying he no longer believes there's any question that the globe is warming, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

"I believe there is global warming," he said at a news conference last week. Mr. Bush had said just a few weeks ago that the "science is still out" on global warming. The governor, who is leading a crowded field of GOP presidential candidates, said his team of advisers had changed his mind.

"The last time I wasn't certain of the science," he said. "I've had some briefings recently and I'm becoming more convinced that the science proves there's global warming."

Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of the liberal consumer and environmental group Public Citizen, welcomed the new position.

"We are delighted that Gov. Bush is acknowledging that global warming is a problem," he said. "We would ask him to take a leadership role since Texas leads the nation in global warming."

But Texas Citizens for a Sound Economy, a conservative group that doubts global-warming theories, says Mr. Bush should take another look.

"We think there's been a lot of questionable and bad science that's been used," said the group's spokeswoman, Peggy Venable.
[End of Transcript]

"And now, a Republican administration will continue and complete the work of a Democratic administration. This is the way environmental policy should work."
George W. Bush - SOURCE

BIOGRAPHY

John F. Turner
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Oceans and International
Environmental and Scientific Affairs
Term of Appointment: 11/13/2001 to present

John Turner was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES) on November 13, 2001. In this capacity, he heads U.S. Department of State programs and activities concerning HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, the environment, climate change, oceans affairs, and science and technology.

Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary, Mr. Turner was President and Chief Executive Officer of The Conservation Fund, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to public-private partnerships to protect land and water resources. With the support of over 200 corporations, during Mr. Turner’s tenure the Fund protected more than 2.8 million acres of parks, wildlife habitat, and open space across America. Between 1989 and 1993, Mr. Turner served as the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where he was responsible for expanding collaborative approaches under the Endangered Species Act, increasing wetland protection and establishing 55 new National Wildlife Refuges, the most of any administration in the nation’s history. He served for 19 years in the Wyoming State Legislature and is a past President of the State Senate.

Formerly, Mr. Turner served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Jackson Hole, and as Chairman of the Institute of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming. Past Board of Directors’ affiliations include Northeast Utilities, the Land Trust Alliance, the National Wildlife Refuge Association, the Murie Center, and the Trumpeter Swan Society. He has served as an advisor to the Hancock Timber Resources Group, Argonne National Laboratories-West, the Yale School of Forestry, and the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources.

Awards presented to Mr. Turner include: the Times/Mirror Conservation Award, Chevron; National Wetlands Achievement Award, Ducks Unlimited; Sheldon Coleman Award, America's Recreation Roundtable; Audubon Stewardship Award, National Audubon Society, Western Region; President's Public Service Award, The Nature Conservancy; Conservation Achievement Award, National Wildlife Federation; Exemplary Service Award, American Outdoors; National Award, Take Pride in America, U.S. Department of the Interior; Citizen of the Year, Teton County, WY.

Among Mr. Turner’s publications are: The Magnificent Bald Eagle, Our National Bird, Random House; "The Private Lands Challenge: Integrating biodiversity, conservation, and private property," Private Property and the Endangered Species Act, University of Texas Press; "Land Use: The Forgotten Agenda," in Thinking Ecologically: The next generation of environmental policy, Yale University Press; and numerous other publications regarding wildlife conservation, outdoor recreation, and natural resource policies.

Mr. Turner received a Master of Science degree in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from the University of Notre Dame. A native of Moose, Wyoming, Mr. Turner is a third-generation rancher who, with his brothers, operates the Triangle X Ranch in Grand Teton National Park. He and his wife, Mary Kay, are the parents of three children.

http://www.results.gov/leadership/bios/turnerj.html

John Turner -- Department of State

Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, International Environment & Scientific Affairs

Prior to his current appointment, John Turner was President and Chief Executive Officer of The Conservation Fund, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to public-private partnerships to protect land and water resources. Between 1989 and 1993, he served as the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He served for nineteen years in the Wyoming State Legislature and is a past President of the Wyoming State Senate. John is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, and he received a Master of Science degree in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Michigan

Contact: 202-647-1554

Council on Environmental Quality

Spotted Owl Advocate Seeks Top Post From Bush

Testimony of Brent Blackwelder President, Friends of the Earth - Submitted to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
"Griles's nomination is particularly disheartening in light of recent reports that John Turner, former Wyoming lawmaker, friend of Vice President Cheney, and noted conservationist was also under consideration for the position. We have no doubt that Teddy Roosevelt would have cast a smile over the administration had it chosen to nominate a proven conservationist such as John Turner as second-in-command at the Department of Interior."

"the plan is to appoint liberal Republicans to key Assistant, Deputy Secretary and Director posts within Interior."
..."Central to this plan are attempts to name John Turner, President and CEO of the Conservation Fund, to the second most powerful post in the department, Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks."

...Why is Turner in line for such a powerful post? Turner is a lifetime close personal friend of Vice President Dick Cheney. Turner has been appointed to the Interior Department Transition Advisory Team along with several allies such as Tom Kiernan, President of the National Parks Conservation Association (NCPA).

Turner's land trust is notorious for training cadres of environmental activists at its Conservation Leadership Network schools, which have been subsidized by Interior Department grant money under the Clinton Administration. Network graduates are trained in combining regulatory threats from federal agencies with the money of land trusts to harass property owners. The goal is to financially drain families and force them to sell their land at greatly reduced prices.

"John Turner's nomination would cut Gale Norton off at the knees," said Chuck Cushman, Executive Director of the American Land Rights Association (ALRA), who supports Norton. "It would defeat the purpose of naming Norton in the first place. "Because of his personal friendship with Cheney and Turner's environmental allies, he would have a separate power base independent of Norton, and could ignore and even reverse her directives," Cushman continued.

"Naming a Clinton Administration ally like John Turner to this key post would be a tragedy for private property rights, and would mean a continuation of Bruce Babbitt's land grabbing policies," Cushman continued.

Turner ally Tom Kiernan's involvement with the transition is "truly incredible," said Cushman. "His organization is adamantly opposed to broad based recreational use of the federal lands.

"NCPA's Annual Report proudly boasts of shutting down use of snowmobiles, tourist aircraft and automobiles in the parks. This greatly restricts families and senior citizens, and benefits only the environmental elite who can afford lengthy, expensive trips such as eco-tourist tours."

"President Bush has chosen John Turner to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Interior to Norton. Turner is the man responsible for listing the Northern Spotted Owl on the Endangered Species list, helping to devastate the timber industry."

Spotted-owl advocate seeks top Bush post - Environmental activist enjoys close relationship with vice president

Spotted-owl Advocate Seeks Top Bush Post Environmental Activist Enjoys Close Relationship With Vice President

Property-rights defenders have mobilized to try to persuade President Bush not to name John Turner -- the man who made the Northern Spotted Owl into the most celebrated of all endangered species -- to a high-ranking post in the new administration.

Sources close to the process say that Turner is being considered for deputy secretary of the interior, assistant secretary of the interior for fish, wildlife and parks, or alternatively, as chairman of the President's Council on Environmental Quality, or CEQ.

Turner's greatest asset is that he is a longtime, close personal friend of Vice President Dick Cheney. His greatest liability, sources say, is that he is being opposed, inside the White House, by Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser. Rove, a Utah native who has long lived in Texas, is said to have a Westerner's understanding of land-use issues.

As director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the last Bush administration, Turner developed a reputation among conservatives as a radical environmentalist -- a reputation he carried with him when he left public office to serve as president of the Conservation Fund.

"He is being considered because he's a fly-fishing buddy of the vice president," said Mike Hardiman, legislative director for the American Land Rights Association, which has compiled a 60-page dossier on Turner. "If he were considered on his own merits, he would not be considered again in a Republican administration."

"We do not comment on personnel matters, as a matter of policy," said Cheney spokeswoman Juliana Glover when asked if Cheney was pushing Turner for an administration post. Turner serves on the Interior transition team.

"Turner has strong support from the environmental community," said Myron Ebell, director of Global Warming and International Environmental Policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. "Martha Marks of the Republican front group Republicans for Environmental Protection is behind him." An opponent of Gale Norton's confirmation as interior secretary, Marks, when asked by reporters on Jan. 15 to name a Republican she favored for interior secretary, answered, "John Turner."

Hardiman said that if Turner were appointed chairman of CEQ, deputy secretary of the interior or assistant interior secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, he could "work to neutralize Norton, especially because of his friendship with the vice president." (Although they want Turner frozen out completely, conservative environmentalists agree that if the vice president insists Turner get an administration post, the CEQ job would be the least harmful because, unlike the Interior Department, CEQ does not issue regulations, although its reports can stimulate new rules or legislative recommendations.)

Turner's connection with Cheney has deep roots: He served as best man at the vice president's wedding.

According to Hardiman and Ebell, Turner, as deputy secretary of the interior, could push to have his environmentalist friend Mike Brennan named as the department's top legal officer. Turner did not respond to repeated calls to his Conservation Fund office.

His record as an environmental activist includes:

As director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1989 to 1993, Turner listed the Northern Spotted Owl as an endangered species based on highly dubious science. "The environmentalists claimed that the owl could live only in old-growth forests," said Hardiman. "Well, it turns out that they live in all sorts of forests. They said that noise disturbed them and they would not reproduce. It turns out the owls do just fine in forests where there is timber harvesting. Every time something was being done to mitigate the economic effect on people because of the spotted-owl listing, it came out of [Interior Secretary Manuel] Lujan's office. Turner didn't care about people."
Requested large budget increases each year.
Repeatedly labeled enforcing the Endangered Species Act "the highest priority [Fish and Wildlife] Service activity."
Was the only Interior official held over by the Clinton administration, albeit only for a few months.
Announced on Jan. 29, 1990, the "America the Beautiful" program to provide "important funding to help protect wetlands, strengthen our endangered species program, and acquire significant new wildlife lands." Turner asked Congress to provide $140 million for the new program, mostly to finance additional endangered species listings and federal land acquisitions. Only $2 million was allocated for building facilities for the public. "Increases are requested to accelerate listings and implement the 1988 amendments to the Endangered Species Act," said Turner's program proposal. Congress gave Turner his request and doubled it the next year.
Spent $12 million in tax dollars leading the charge to reintroduce the wolf onto Western lands. Local ranchers and farmers opposed the program because wolves prey on livestock and occasionally people.
Worked closely with Rockefeller family foundations -- during his years as head of the Conservation Fund -- to buy up private lands and prevent their productive use, often turning them over to government control. Indeed, locking up land is the Conservation Fund's express purpose.
The Conservation Fund's newsletter Common Ground endorsed President Clinton's roadless initiative in November 1999, when the estimated impacted acreage was 40 million acres. The final number was 58 million.
Five times in the past four years, Common Ground published the League of Conservation Voters' hit list of "anti-environment" Republicans, according to the American Land Rights Network.
The Interior Department inspector general's office criticized Turner in a 1993 report because Turner took five trips at government expense to his home state of Wyoming that auditors claimed were unjustified. Inspector General Jim Richards told the Jackson Hole Guide (Feb. 17, 1993) that Turner "said he saved the government money by going home. Remarkable."
The same inspector general found that the Fish and Wildlife Service overpaid land trusts by $5.2 million for land acquisitions while Turner was director. One of those trusts was the Conservation Fund.

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