Press Releases FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: November 5, 2007 CONTACT: Sharon Yergeau, (603) 271-2918 Jim Martin, (603) 271-3710

DES and NH Association of Conservation Commissions Sign Partnership Agreement
1st Agreement signed as part of new DES Partners Program

Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) and the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Commissions (NHACC) signed a partnership agreement at the NHACC annual meeting on Saturday, November 3 to further their commons goals of environmental education and the protection of the state’s natural resources. This partnership agreement is the first to be signed as part of a new Partners Program that DES has initiated with a wide range of organizations across New Hampshire.

“Over the past 20 years, DES has had informal partnerships with more than 200 different non-profits, trade associations, educational institutions and governmental organizations,” noted Tom Burack, DES Commissioner. “Our new Partners Program will help us strengthen those partnerships by bringing greater recognition and structure to these relationships and enabling us to better align our joint efforts in support of the Department’s goals and the goals of our partner organization.”

In the past, DES and NHACC have worked cooperatively and in partnership on a wide range of matters, including wetlands education and permitting, aquatic resource mitigation, source water protection, designated rivers and shoreland protection. Based upon the successes of prior cooperative efforts and to bring greater recognition to future partnership efforts, DES and NHACC have entered into a more formal Partnership Agreement. The specific areas of cooperation are detailed in a work plan covering the period from November 3, 2007 to December 31, 2009. The work plan may be amended from time to time by mutual written agreement. It is anticipated that this Partnership Agreement will result in enhanced communication between DES and NHACC and improved environmental protection.

DES has initiated the DES Partners Program as a means of further accomplishing the agency’s mission of sustaining a high quality of life for all by protecting and restoring the environment and public health in New Hampshire. It is anticipated that the Partners Program will help to raise environmental awareness through a strengthening of the Department’s current relationships with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), trade associations, industry, business and other organizations in New Hampshire, as well as the development of new collaborative relationships.

A copy of the agreement will be posted with this press release at www.des.nh.gov/press.asp or is available upon request. For more information about the agreement or the DES Partners Program, please call Sharon Yergeau at (603) 271-2918.

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