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DES and NH Association of Regional Planning Commissions
Sign Partnership Agreement Agreement signed as part of new DES Partners Program Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and the New Hampshire Association of Regional Planning Commissions (NHARPC) today signed a partnership agreement to further their commons goals of environmental stewardship and the protection of the state’s natural resources. This partnership agreement is the fourth to be signed as part of a new Partners Program that DES has initiated with a wide range of organizations across New Hampshire. “Our new Partners Program will strengthen the informal partnership DES currently has with more than 100 different groups 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 organizations,” stated DES Commissioner Tom Burack. In the past, DES and NHARPC have worked cooperatively and in partnership on a wide range of matters, including identifying locally important conservation lands in support of a statewide effort that eventually became the Land and Community Heritage Program, development of an Innovative Land Use guide with model ordinances designed to improve local land use management with respect to growth impacts and natural resource protection, and numerous local and regional natural resource and open space plans. Based upon the successes of prior cooperative efforts and to bring greater recognition to future partnership efforts, DES and NHARPC have entered into a more formal Partnership Agreement. The specific areas of cooperation are detailed in a work plan covering the period from April 10, 2008 to June 30, 2010. It is anticipated that this Partnership Agreement will result in enhanced communication between DES and NHARPC and improved environmental protection. “The Department of Environmental Services and the regional planning commissions of New Hampshire have been in partnership since 1987 with the formation of DES,” said David Preece, Executive Director of the Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission, a member of the New Hampshire Association of Regional Planning Commissions. “We’ve worked on many projects that try to maintain the quality of life for all citizens by protecting and restoring the environment.” 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 citizens 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/partnersprogram/index.html or is available upon request. For more information about the agreement or the DES Partners Program, please call Sharon Yergeau at (603) 2712918. |
