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Department unveils 5th 'C' -- Community
BY DAN BERMAN, GREENWIRE, 08/22/06
The "Four C's," former Interior Secretary Gale Norton's famed slogan for promoting cooperative conservation, is adding a fifth "C" to the group.
The Interior Department is adding "community" to Norton's alliterative phrase. It now reads: "Communication, consultation, and cooperation, all in the service of conservation and community."
The change appears in Interior's new draft strategic plan document for the next five years. The plan is essentially a vision document designed to address threats such as population growth and pressures on open spaces, water resources and wildlife, and does not mandate any specific actions.
Norton's Four C's was a constant drumbeat during her tenure from 2001 until her departure in March, but it was often ridiculed by environmentalists and others who said Interior was often acting to limit input from stakeholders and opponents of department policy.
Environmentalists greeted the newest "C" with something less than excitement.
"Meaningless," said David Alberswerth of the Wilderness Society.
"I'm surprised collaboration is not in there," Alberswerth added. "You hear that a lot. If you added a sixth, it would add to the alliterative invention of this slogan."
"I'm surprised the fifth 'C' isn't carbon," said Jeff Ruch executive director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
"Even the top people didn't know what they were," Ruch said, noting that employees have reported that posters of the Four C's have been removed from various Interior offices and buildings.
"They've had so many C's I can't keep track anymore," said John Kostyack, senior counsel of the National Wildlife Federation. "We're in favor of communities. That's what's so great about this initiative, it's hard to oppose any of the words.
But Brian Kennedy, spokesman for House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), said it was about time Interior acknowledged communities in the unofficial slogan. "The chairman has always said that stakeholder input and complete community involvement are key to any productive conservation effort," Kennedy said. "In his opinion, this should have been the first 'C' from the start, but better late than never."
Before she left, Norton said she did not expect the Four C's to last for long. "I think, frankly, cooperative conservation will survive," Norton said. "I think everybody who's been struggling to remember exactly what those Four C's stood for will be happy to see that gone."
Interior officials did not return phone calls for comment by press time.
The draft strategic plan can be downloaded on the DOI web site.
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