George W. Cleek, IV speech at Winnicut Dam Removal Event on October 15, 2009

Thank you Mr. Diers and thank you for the opportunity to say a few words. 

When it comes to conserving natural resources, some days are clearly better than others.  This is a very good day.  Not only is it a great day for conservation, it is a great day because it celebrates a unique partnership of Federal, State, and local entities, both public and private.  Without your perseverance for so many years, through enormous challenges and obstacles, this project would not be a reality. 
 

In an age of gridlock, sometimes even in government J, this project is a rare exception deserving of your pride and our thanks. 

This remarkable partnership worked effectively together for the good of New Hampshire’s people, fish, and wildlife.  The Natural Resources Conservation Service is proud to be a part of this effort committing $750,000 for both the dam removal and the fish ladder construction as well as assisting the partnership with planning and implementation of the project. 

The NRCS, formerly the Soil Conservation Service, is most often associated with soil mapping, controlling erosion, and assisting landowners and farmers with conservation planning.   But river restoration and watershed-scale projects are not new to the NRCS.  Going back nearly 50 years, the Soil Conservation Service had watershed programs focused on river stabilization, flood prevention, drinking water supply, and recreation.  There are still 24 multipurpose structures built in New Hampshire in the sixties, seventies, and eighties by the SCS, with the support and involvement of local partners, to help primarily with flood prevention and protection.  The focus then was on managing rivers.   

We’ve evolved as a nation and as an agency to understand that resource management and conservation are not mutually exclusive but inextricably linked. 

In 2002, with the passage of the Farm Bill by Congress, NRCS’s role of administering financial assistance and land easement programs significantly increased.  One of the numerous programs funded by the 2002 Farm Bill was the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, or WHIP, – the program that funded our share of this project.    

While the WHIP program under the 2008 Farm Bill no longer funds work on public lands; fish and wildlife resources in New Hampshire will continue to benefit greatly from our portfolio of financial and easement programs.   

This past year, the New Hampshire NRCS helped private land owners with over $37 million dollars worth of financial and technical assistance to install, maintain and enhance conservation practices on private lands.  While we are currently involved with implementing fourteen (14) programs, our largest:  the Wetland Reserve, Environmental Quality Incentives, Conservation Technical Assistance, Farm and Ranch Lands Protection, and Wildlife Habitat Incentives Programs, comprise over 96% of all of New Hampshire NRCS conservation work. 

Through the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection and Wetland Reserve Programs, New Hampshire NRCS obligated and set aside the funding to purchase seventy (70) conservation easements, spanning over 6,100 acres, investing over $22 million dollars, to prohibit development and maintain or improve natural resources on agricultural lands, wetlands and adjoining uplands. 

Since 2002, although our agency's programs and its funding have grown exponentially, our staffing has not.  We’ve come to realize that we cannot do it all alone.  That’s why partnerships like this one are crucial to ensuring that our mutual goal of getting conservation on the land – including its rivers and wetlands – is achieved. 

Thank you to all the partners who made this project a reality for New Hampshire and to those who have contributed to this very good day for conservation. 

Thank you.

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