America's Great Outdoors Initiative

Join the ACA today in Annapolis, MD or Monday in Charleston, SC:

Please join senior representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for a public listening session and discussion in the Longleaf pine region of South Carolina on conservation, recreation, and reconnecting people to the outdoors. The session will be held June 28th from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Charleston, South Carolina.


This past April, at the White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors, President Obama signed a memorandum establishing the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to develop a conservation agenda worthy of the 21st century and to reconnect Americans with our great outdoors. The President understands that protecting and restoring the lands and waters that we love and reconnecting people to the outdoors must happen at the local level.


Therefore, President Obama directed the principal leaders of the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to travel across the country to listen and learn from people directly involved in finding grassroots solutions to conserving our lands and waters and reconnecting Americans to the outdoors. The President indicated that the sessions should engage the full range of interested groups, including tribal leaders, farmers and ranchers, sportsmen, community park groups, foresters, youth groups, businesspeople, educators, State and local governments, and recreation and conservation groups.

In the Longleaf pine region, a diverse partnership of federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations and private landowners have successfully collaborated to restore the longleaf pine ecosystem using an integrated landscape approach. While more remains to be done, this collaborative exemplifies an ecosystem-based restoration effort that is improving communities’ natural resources and providing cleaner water, improved critical habitat for sensitive species, and an economic resource for the future.

The June 28th public listening session and discussion is an opportunity for leaders of the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to hear from you and other voices in the Longleaf pine region about solutions for building a 21st century conservation and recreation agenda and for reconnecting people with the outdoors. Please join us.

Here are the details:

Listening Session and Discussion Information:

When:
Monday, June 28th, 1:00 – 5 p.m.

Where:
Founders Hall
Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site
1500 Old Towne Road
Charleston, SC

Who: Senior Washington, D.C. and local leadership from USDA, DOI and DOD will be present to hear your thoughts and to participate in a conversation with you about America’s Great Outdoors.

Please Register This event is free and open to the public. For planning purposes it would be helpful if you would pre-register by Thursday June 24 by sending an email to cforney@fs.fed.us with your name, the name of the organization with which you are affiliated, if any, and your telephone number.

We will make every effort to accommodate everyone.In the event you are unable to participate in person, please submit your comments and stories via the America’s Great Outdoors website at http://www.doi.gov/americasgreatoutdoors/.

If you have questions, please call Carol Forney at (803) 561-4002. We hope you will participate and look forward to hearing from you.