President Obama Promotes Land Protection with "America's Great Outdoors" Initiative

On Friday, April 16, Scenic Hudson Senior Vice President Steve Rosenberg and representatives from other environmental and land protection organizations joined President Barack Obama and leaders from the Environmental Protection Agency, White House Council on Environmental Quality and departments of Agriculture and Interior for "America's Great Outdoors Conference" at the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C.

At the conference, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum establishing the America's Great Outdoors Initiative to "support a 21st century conservation agenda." In his remarks, Obama mentioned four ways that the new strategy will better protect our natural landscape and our history for generations to come:

1. building on successful public-private conservation efforts
2. helping individual farmers, ranchers and property owners with land protection efforts
3. encouraging families to spend more time hiking and biking and getting outside
4. fostering a new generation of community and urban parks

President Obama stressed the economic, as well as environmental benefits of the new strategy: "We're also doing it because it's the right thing to do for our economy. It's how we're going to spur job creation in the tourism industry and the recreation industry. It's how we'll create jobs preserving and maintaining our forests, our rivers, our great outdoors."

Mr. Rosenberg applauded the administration for bringing issues of land protection to the forefront of its agenda: "The Hudson Valley has all of the ingredients for success in the President's vision for community-centered conservation based on public-private partnerships and collaboration. Scenic Hudson is thrilled to have been invited to participate in this exciting conservation gathering convened by the Obama Administration's top environmental officials. It is particularly energizing to those who care about our unique Hudson Valley landscapes for the administration to put conservation on the front burner during these challenging economic times."

The White House Web site features President Obama's complete remarks along with the text of the Presidential Memorandum.