Secretary Norton will be introduced by D. A. (Don) Young, Executive Vice-President of Ducks Unlimited. "We are honored to have the great privilege of Secretary Norton's presence. Ms. Norton is well poised to address the issues that are relevant to wetlands and waterfowl conservation. The Bush administration has put a great deal of emphasis on private landowners and their role in conservation. We share this perspective and have private landowners to thank for millions of the acres we have conserved and restored," said Mr. Young. He also noted that the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), a federal matching program administered by the Department of Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service, has funded conservation of more than 7 million acres of wildlife habitat in North America. "NAWCA is a very effective vehicle for meaningful public-private partnerships that restore wetland habitat for migratory birds and hundreds of other wildlife species," said Mr. Young.

The Ducks Unlimited International Waterfowl and Wetlands Symposium takes place every five years. This year's event marks the 8th symposium on the issues facing the management and protection of waterfowl and wetlands. Previous symposia have helped expose important issues that have led to the implementation of new conservation partnerships and initiatives.

The press is invited to attend the symposium, which begins on Friday, July 20, and runs through Sunday, July 22. A field trip, also open to the media, will precede the symposium on Thursday, July 19. The trip, hosted by Ducks Unlimited and partners, will visit a variety of sites in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to view examples of riparian habitat conservation, wetland restoration and other watershed conservation activities. The Chesapeake Bay, identified by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands as a "Wetland of International Importance," is one of the largest and most productive ecosystems in the world.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, experts from around the world will speak about a wide array of issues, including the "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico, Western water issues, agriculture and conservation, and changes in the Clean Water Act. For more information about the symposium, click on the "Conservation" section at www.ducks.org. Members of the media who would like to attend should contact Tildy La Farge at 901-758-3859.

With more than one million supporters, Ducks Unlimited (www.ducks.org) is the world's leading wetland and waterfowl conservation group. Wetlands are nature's most productive ecosystems, but the United States has lost more than half of its original wetlands, and continues to lose more than 100,000 wetland acres every year.