Armstrong's speech to WSLCA/ELRC members

What a privilege it's been to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management for the past five years. It's been undeniably one of the most challenging and rewarding times to be part of the Department of the Interior.

One of the most satisfying aspects of this job has been my relationship with many of you and your organizations. Our work together and our friendship reflect a broader evolution within the Department. We have entered a new era in the way we manage the public's resources. Its hallmarks are partnership and collaboration. Nowhere has this evolution been more visible -- or more beneficial -- than in the relationship we have nurtured with you, the Land Commissioners.

When I came on board, Secretary Babbitt was clear in his goals. His direction to me and to other land managers was strong and heartfelt:

to find new ways to communicate with people about our mission and win their trust and support;
to help people understand who we are and what we stand for;
to convince them we all want the same things for the West;
to listen more closely to the views and concerns of local communities;
to draw the public into the decision-making process;
to work for collaborative, consensus-based management of the lands, and to do that -- whenever possible -- in partnership with others.

That philosophy -- and the things we've done to put that philosophy into practice -- have made a big difference, not just in the health of the land, but in the health of our relationship as land managers with the people we serve.

In that regard, a crowning achievement is the creation of citizen Resource Advisory Councils across the West. The RACs have shown us it is possible to bring diverse interests together, discuss differences openly and candidly, find common ground, then move ahead with creative, consensus-based decisions.

These RACs have helped the BLM develop standards for rangeland health and guidelines for livestock grazing. Now, the process is being used across the West and across the broad range of issues that confront public land users and public land managers.

Today, one of the highest priorities in the Interior Department that's vital to all of us and will continue to be so well into the next century is water -- clean water and healthy watersheds. One such initiative underway helps reduce polluted runoff, restores watersheds and promotes community-based partnerships for watershed management.

The Secretary is expanding the Abandoned Mine Land program for hardrock mines -- another model of partnership among federal agencies, states, local communities, and private entities.

He is stepping up the Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative, an effort in which many of our Eastern State Land Commissioners have been involved. The Clean Streams Initiative is a government and public alliance led by our Office of Surface Mining that is cleaning up streams and rivers in the eastern United States that have been polluted by acid and toxic drainage from abandoned coal mines.

The key to restoring the health of the land is restoring the health of our watersheds. Another initiative we've worked hard to focus on is the restoration of riparian areas. These areas are so important in preventing erosion, purifying water, reducing flood risks, and providing habitat for fish and wildlife.

The Bureau of Land Management launched one of its most significant interagency partnerships with the National Riparian Service Team, composed of water and range experts from the BLM, the Forest Service, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The work of the Riparian Team is helping communities across the West restore riparian areas that have been damaged by poor land management practices.

Initiatives like these are improving water quality, with benefits to fisheries and riparian habitats, and to downstream users -- communities, industries, farmers and ranchers.

The Department -- and the BLM in particular -- are building on their experience in shared stewardship as the plan for the management of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is developed.

Of course, these collaborative federal-state efforts took a historic step forward recently when Secretary Babbitt and Utah Governor Leavitt signed an agreement that will result in the largest land and mineral exchange ever completed. This exchange, the fulfillment of a promise made by President Clinton when he designated the Monument, will resolve the decades-old state school trust lands issue in Utah. The exchange is supported by Utah's Congressional delegation, the environmental community and local officials. When I became Assistant Secretary, even I didn't envision such a stunning success.

To accomplish the President's goals for the Monument, the BLM has formed a team, which includes five employees of the State of Utah, that is hard at work developing a long-term management plan for the area.

This latest triumph in finding consensus-based solutions to contentious land management issues represents a remarkable turnaround in the way we work together and view each other. When I first walked into the Main Interior Building, there seemed to be a chasm that rivaled the Grand Canyon between some of us. Today, I see a renewed sense of hope, trust, and -- instead of a chasm -- I see miles and miles of common ground.

Our children and our grandchildren will be the beneficiaries of this new era in land management. I am proud to have been a part of it.