ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES $3 MILLION ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVE    

                                              Release No. 0133.97

                                                                 
                                     Jim Petterson (202) 720-4623
                                           jim.petterson@usda.gov


CLINTON ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES $3 MILLION ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVE FOR       
  DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

     WASHINGTON, April 24, 1997--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced
today that the Clinton Administration will provide more than $3 million in
technical and financial assistance and team with community members,
organizations, and local government agencies to launch the new Urban Resource
Initiative for the District of Columbia.  

     The goal of the initiative is to improve natural resources in the
District and foster volunteerism, community service, and conservation
education.  Coming three days before the Presidents' Summit for America's
Future, the initiative will provide opportunities for volunteer service.

     To kick-off the initiative, organized through the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Glickman presented John Burroughs Elementary School Principal Nae
Davis with four computers to create an environmental learning laboratory at
the school and planted the first 14 of 1,000 trees USDA will provide to the
District this year.

     In addition to the committments to environmental education and the
planting of 1,000 trees, USDA, through the initiative, will work with partners
to revitalize open space, improve wildlife habitat, improve water quality by
planting riparian forests along rivers and streams, and develop neighborhood
tree and shrub nurseries.  Forest Service staff at the George Washington
National Forest in Virgina will offer volunteer opportunities and teach kids
about natural resources in a traditional forest setting. 

     President Clinton, in his State of the Union address on February 4,
called for support to renew America's Capital City.  Secretary Glickman said,
"The Urban Resource Initiative will bring together the positive forces of
community service, science, technology, education, natural resource
management, and public-private partnerships to improve the Capital City. 
Caring for natural resources and volunteering brings people together to solve
local problems and fosters a sense of community and pride."
     
     The technical and financial assistance being made available for the
first three years of the initiative will come from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Forest Service, Natural Resource Conservation Service,
Agricultural Research Service, and Cooperative State Research, Education and
Extension Service.  Challenge cost-share funds in the amount of $200,000 will
be available.  Under a challenge cost-share, funds or in-kind services pledged
by local groups may be matched by federal grants.

     Mayor Marion Barry and local officials joined Secretary Glickman at the
announcement. 

Across America, there are 69 million acres of urban forests.  These forests
provide essential benefits.  They help to clean the air and water, stabilize
soil and prevent erosion, control stormwater, improve property values, dampen
noise pollution, provide energy-saving shade and protection from wind, improve
wildlife habitat, and provide parks and beautiful spaces for people to enjoy.

     The improvement of urban forests has become an important area of work
for the USDA Forest Service. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck said, "A
healthy urban forest is a healthy place to live and work.  If we plant and
care for the urban forest it will help care for us.  The Urban Resource
Initiative in the District of Columbia will bring attention to all of the
natural resources that are interrelated, and that sustain life."
     
     The Urban Resource Initiative was developed by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture in cooperation with the District of Columbia Department of Public
Works, Tree and Landscape Division; the Urban Forest Council of Washington DC;
the District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs; the
University of the District of Columbia; the National Forest Foundation; the
District of Columbia Soil and Water District; Howard University; and the
National Arboretum.  

     Gracie M. Joy, D.C. urban forester with the USDA Forest Service, is the
initiative coordinator.  Joy works in partnership with Sandra Hill, chief of
the Tree and Landscape Division of the District of Columbia Department of
Public Works.  Joy and Hill work closely with the Urban Forest Council of
Washington, D.C.

                                
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