U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of Surface Mining
For immediate release				Contact: Joe Pally
February 20, 2004				(202) 208-2565


OSM named "Supporting Organization of the Year" 
By nation's Conservation and Development Districts


The U.S. Office of Surface Mining has been named "Supporting Organization 
of the Year" for 2003 by the National Association of Resource Conservation and 
Development Councils.

The award is the highest recognition given by the NARC&D and recognizes the 
leadership role OSM has taken in its work with the RC&D community, 
specifically the Black Diamond RC&D Council,  which coordinates community 
improvement projects across six counties in the coal country of southwestern 
Virginia.

Resource and Conservation Districts are nonprofit organizations supported by 
the US Department of Agriculture. OSM won the Virginia state award last year 
after being nominated by Black Diamond RC&D. Black Diamond recognized 
OSM "for its innovation and spirit, its outreach and team building and its 
commitment to local partnerships."

The award recognizes work on several specific partnership projects including:
the Wise Legacy Wetlands Project treating Acid Mine Drainage in the center 
of the University of Virginia-Wise campus;  the OSM/VISTA Initiative bringing 
full-time support to coal country watersheds; the Eastern Coal Region 
Roundtable bringing Federal agencies in closer contact with coal country 
watersheds; and the regional Acid Mine Drainage Conference.  

"OSM has been a particularly valuable partner in several projects across 
the coalfields of Southwestern Virginia," said Black Diamond RC&D 
Coordinator Blaine K. Delaney in a letter last year to OSM Director 
Jeff Jarrett. OSM, said Delaney, has contributed to "bringing cleaner 
water and community revitalization to our region."

The award brings national attention to the significant cooperation that 
exists between OSM and RC&D Councils throughout the Appalachian 
coal states.  National recognition of the role OSM can play in watershed 
improvement through partnerships with RC&D councils and the watershed 
groups they support will assist both agencies in bringing new 
partnerships and new strength to the effort to improve the quality of life 
in coal country.

Black Diamond's nomination particularly praised the contributions of 
Dr. Allan Comp, Watershed Assistance Coordinator, and Ronnie Vicars, 
Clean Streams Coordinator for Virginia, who have been the lead staffers 
for OSM on Black Diamond's projects.

 "The President and Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton have directed 
us to work toward a new environmentalism built on partnerships and 
cooperative conservation," said Jarrett. "It is gratifying to receive this 
kind of recognition from the people who are working in the communities 
and on the landscapes."

-OSM-