Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Purpose. The purpose of this order is to 
                ensure that the Departments of the Interior, 
                Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense and the 
                Environmental Protection Agency implement laws relating 
                to the environment and natural resources in a manner 
                that promotes cooperative conservation, with an 
                emphasis on appropriate inclusion of local 
                participation in Federal decisionmaking, in accordance 
                with their respective agency missions, policies, and 
                regulations.

                Sec. 2. Definition. As used in this order, the term 
                ``cooperative conservation'' means actions that relate 
                to use, enhancement, and enjoyment of natural 
                resources, protection of the environment, or both, and 
                that involve collaborative activity among Federal, 
                State, local, and tribal governments, private for-
                profit and nonprofit institutions, other 
                nongovernmental entities and individuals.

                Sec. 3. Federal Activities. To carry out the purpose of 
                this order, the Secretaries of the Interior, 
                Agriculture, Commerce, and Defense and the 
                Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
                shall, to the extent permitted by law and subject to 
                the availability of appropriations and in coordination 
                with each other as appropriate:

                    (a) carry out the programs, projects, and 
                activities of the agency that they respectively head 
                that implement laws relating to the environment and 
                natural resources in a manner that:

  (i) facilitates cooperative conservation;

  (ii) takes appropriate account of and respects the interests of persons 
with ownership or other legally recognized interests in land and other 
natural resources;

  (iii) properly accommodates local participation in Federal 
decisionmaking; and

  (iv) provides that the programs, projects, and activities are consistent 
with protecting public health and safety;

                    (b) report annually to the Chairman of the Council 
                on Environmental Quality on actions taken to implement 
                this order; and
                    (c) provide funding to the Office of Environmental 
                Quality Management Fund (42 U.S.C. 4375) for the 
                Conference for which section 4 of this order provides.

                Sec. 4. White House Conference on Cooperative 
                Conservation. The Chairman of the Council on 
                Environmental Quality shall, to the extent permitted by 
                law and subject to the availability of appropriations:

                    (a) convene not later than 1 year after the date of 
                this order, and thereafter at such times as the 
                Chairman deems appropriate, a White House Conference on 
                Cooperative Conservation (Conference) to facilitate the 
                exchange of information and advice relating to (i) 
                cooperative conservation and (ii) means for achievement 
                of the purpose of this order; and
                    (b) ensure that the Conference obtains information 
                in a manner that seeks from Conference participants 
                their individual advice and does not involve collective 
                judgment or consensus advice or deliberation.

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                Sec. 5. General Provision. This order is not intended 
                to, and does not, create any right or benefit, 
                substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in 
                equity by any party against the United States, its 
                departments, agencies, instrumentalities or entities, 
                its officers, employees or agents, or any other person.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    August 26, 2004.