[Introduced by an off-stage announcer]

Please recognize Chief Dale Bosworth and Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment Mark Rey.

Thank you. I am pleased to be here on this 100th anniversary of the Forest Service.

Admittedly, this is a bit of a bittersweet occasion, marking the time that the Forest Service was separated from my department. You have done great work since then.

While the newborn Forest Service left the Interior family, it has matured into one of our most valued partners, and we share of the closest working relationships in the federal government.

In "Plant a Tree," poetess Lucy Larcom observed, "He who plants a tree / plants a hope."

For the past 100 years, the Forest Service has been planting trees and growing hopes. The service was premised on the promise of the seedling. That acorns would grow into great oaks, even as seeds of stewardship would grow into prosperity, healthy forests and enjoyment.

Gifford Pinchot and Theodore Roosevelt repeatedly proclaimed that the national forests were to be conserved for continual use.

It was understood then, as it is understood now, that forest resources would be continuously enjoyed only if they were constantly renewed.

Years from now when historians look at the history of the Forest Service, I believe they will regard these four years of stewardship by Secretary Veneman, Under Secretary Mark Rey and Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth as years of great accomplishment.

Under their watch, some of the most sweeping policy changes have been made that improve the health of our national forests. These changes include:

" Helping President Bush and Congress create the Healthy Forests Initiative that calls for active management, not passive neglect, of our national forests.
o President Bush's Healthy Forests is enabling us to reduce the risks from catastrophic fires. It is empowering us to reduce the years of built-up underbrush and overly dense stands of trees that have made our forests vulnerable to destructive fires.
o The bipartisan Healthy Forests Restoration Act and our other administrative changes are allowing us to begin the forest and rangeland restoration process. Federal land management agencies, working with states, tribes and local communities, now have new tools to help protect families and habitat from the enormous risk of devastating wildland fires. Since 2001, federal land management agencies have treated 11 million acres of hazardous fuels on public lands.

• Making communities and ecosystems safer from catastrophic fires through this record amount of fuels treatment projects.

• Managing together the worst fire seasons in history in a way that saved countless lives and millions of dollars of property.

• Creating the Wildland Fire Council with representatives of all Federal land management agencies and state and local partners to ensure coordination of fire management.

It was great to work with Secretary and all those at the Forest Service on these issues.

For 100 years, the Forest Service has successfully fulfilled its mission. Last year (2004), the agencies of the Interior Department and the U.S. Forest service treated almost 4.2 million acres, more than 110% of their goal for the year. 2.4 million of those acres - more than half of those treated - were in the Wildland-Urban interface.

We are continuing the work of making our forests healthier. Funds for the Healthy Forests Initiative in this year's budget should enable our federal land managers to make even greater progress in reducing hazardous fuels from public lands.

Our two departments also collaborated in establishing the Interagency Wildland Fire Leadership Council. The creation of the council almost three years ago formalized the efforts previously underway at the Agriculture and Interior Departments to ensure the implementation of the National Fire Plan.

That plan, developed in the summer of 2000, continues to guide us in reducing risks to communities from catastrophic wildifires.

Invasive species have been compared to slow-moving wildfires. They often spread after fires. Invasive plants present many dangers to the forests. So too, do epidemics of diseases and parasites such as bark beetles and the fungus that causes sudden oak death.

Those predators and parasites do not distinguish between federal, state, or local agency boundaries.

Secretary Veneman and I serve as Co-Chairs of the Invasive Species Council, an interagency effort committed to coordinating dollars and activities in addressing the challenges we face from invasive species.

The Forest Service's Forest Health Program is primarily responsible for minimizing the spread of established invasive species and lessening the damage caused by native insects and diseases. The program usually funds about 90 percent of the 12 to 15 proposals made annually by the National Park Service.

My department's Bureau of Land Management has teamed up with the Forest Service to fight another invasive threat, the saltcedar. A single saltcedar tree can produce up to 500,000 seeds each year, crowding out native vegetation along ecologically significant stream corridors.

A different kind of partnership that benefits our fellow citizens is the Service First Initiative between the Forest Service and my department's Bureau of Land Management.

Through Service First, the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service share offices and develop common business practices. So far, the two agencies have collocated more than 20 facilities in 9 states, and hope to combine 22 more by the end of this year. As a result, millions of dollars will be saved, and citizens will have more seamless service.

We are also working closely together through our recreation fee programs. The Federal Land Recreation Enhancement Act, which President Bush recently signed into law, will allow cooperating agencies to develop a national pass to all federal lands and water where a fee is charged.

That legislation will benefit visitors to public lands in several ways. It will reduce the confusion over differing fee programs and it will allow the reinvestment of a majority of fees back into the sites of collection. The legislation will also ensure that I and the Secretary of Agriculture continue to work together for the benefit of all who enjoy our public lands.

I will miss Secretary Ann Veneman. She has been a friend and a fellow steward. We have worked closely together on many issues.

I look forward to working with Secretary designee Gov. Mike Johanns. Together, we will continue the work of cooperative conservation; we will continue to plant seedlings of hope through the forests.

Ultimately, the health of our forests depends on all of us. This anniversary is an important occasion to recommit ourselves to the work begun 100 years ago.

Chuck Leavell, who played the national anthem, is not only a keyboardist of some note - namely his notes with the Rolling Stones - he is also a passionate forester. In his book, "Forever Green," Chuck wrote:

"Maintaining our forests requires a delicate balance, where all the players have to be playing the same tune. A few people alone can't save, conserve, and protect our forests. It takes arborists, loggers, foresters, mill operators, environmentalists, private landowners, wildlife enthusiasts . . . and all of us to get it right. We can't play solo on this one, for the forests are too fragile and the stakes too high. . . . Each tree - each forest - has its own song, and we must listen."

I agree. We must continue to listen to the forest; we must continue to act in concert. We must continue to steward the forests if we hope to enjoy them for the next 100 years.

For the past century, the Forest Service has been planting seeds and growing hopes. I hope that you will continue to plant those trees, and grow those hopes, for the next 100 years.