US/MEXICO BORDER ISSUES SUPPORT COOPERATIVE INTERBUREAU CHARTER
The shared natural and cultural resource environments between Mexico and the United States stand to be the major beneficiaries of a ground breaking Environmental Charter executed in Washington, D.C. on August 11, 1994, and signed by a coalition of nine U.S. Department of the Interior bureaus.
The Bureaus of Land Management, Indian Affairs, Mines and Reclamation, the Fish and Wildlife Service, Geological Survey, Minerals Management Service, National Biological Survey, and the National Park Service are signatories to the charter.
With a stated mandate to promote facilities and enhance communication and coordination between and among the signatories, the charter recognizes that "the border region contains nationally significant natural and cultural resource protection areas such as national parks, national wildlife refuges, national forests, national conservation areas, wilderness areas, waterways, natural resources and special areas for protection on the outer Continental Shelf."
The charter recognizes that "a myriad of federal trust species, including federally endangered or threatened species, migratory birds, and some marine mammals occur in the border area."
Recognition of the importance of cooperation with Mexico in the management, preservation and conservation of natural and cultural resources is not new. Individual agencies and bureaus have been working with Mexico on specialized projects for decades.
The change and the rationale behind the charter is the recognition of the need for a comprehensive, integrated interbureau approach to working cooperatively with Mexican counterparts in the shared responsibility for monitoring, preserving and managing the US/Mexico shared border ecosystems.
Further, by working together toward shared goals, duplication of effort is minimized and cost effectiveness increases.
The first article of the charter formally established the Department of Interior US/Mexico Border Environmental Issues Field Coordinating Committee.
Leadership for the first planning and implementation phase of the charter is shared by Howard Ness, National Park Service, Richard Coleman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Beaumont McClure, Bureau of Land Management.
A primary goal for the committee is to encourage and facilitate the development of consistent Department of the Interior policies, strategies, plans, programs, and priorities and to encourage the development of such by other U.S. Government agencies addressing the environmental, conservation, and cultural concerns of the border region.
To achieve this goal, the committee is establishing Interbureau "Issue Teams."
The Team organizational approach utilized by the signatories has proven to be an excellent vehicle for involving the various bureaus and services to address border issues.
The teams will address study and analyze specific program or problem areas or topics that are of critical concern or interest to the Department of the Interior or any of its bureaus.
