The NewsRoom
Release: #3286
Date: June 21, 2005                                                            

 MMS Joins Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Network

WASHINGTON- P. Lynn Scarlett, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Policy Management and Budget announced today that the Minerals Management Service has become a member of the Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Network. MMS Deputy Director Walter Cruickshank participated in a ceremonial signing of a memorandum of understanding formally entering the agency into the network.

“Joining this cooperative network will enhance MMS’s ability to fully use science and engineering in natural resource management,” said Cruickshank.

The network, which is comprised of federal land management, environmental and research agencies, as well as universities, promotes high quality science, usable knowledge for resource managers, responsive technical assistance, continuing education and cost-effective research programs.

“Our membership in the CESU will build partnerships which will help MMS to develop energy in the most environmentally protective manner, a goal of Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton’s 4 Cs: communication, consultation, cooperation, all in the service of conservation,” said Cruickshank.

MMS manages offshore activities that generate 30 percent of America’s domestic oil and 21 percent of America’s domestic natural gas. The agency also collects over $8 billion in annual revenues for the nation, states and American Indians. “Much of the research we fund is unique and would not be done if it was not for our need to promote environmentally safe development of the outer continental shelf,” said Cruickshank. “Our scientific research programs add important knowledge to the field of marine science. Our technological research programs add to the safety of workers on oil rigs and platforms.” Through its membership in the CESU network, MMS will be able to more efficiently access the extensive research capabilities at universities throughout the United States. The first study MMS hopes to initiate through its membership on the CESU network is “Dynamics of Distribution and Consumption of Subsistence Food Resources in Coastal Alaska”.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also joined the CESU Network today. Other federal members of the CESU network include the U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation, as well as the Department of Energy and the U.S. Forest Service.

MMS, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, oversees 1.76 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf, managing offshore energy and minerals while protecting the human, marine, and coastal environments through advanced science and technology research. The OCS provides 30 percent of oil and 21 percent of natural gas produced domestically, and sand used for coastal restoration. MMS collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian lands, with Fiscal Year 2004 disbursements of approximately $8 billion and more than $143 billion since 1982. The Land and Water Conservation Fund, which pays for cooperative conservation, grants to states, and Federal land acquisition, gets nearly $1 billion a year.

Relevant Web Sites:
   MMS Main Website

Media Contacts:

Nicolette Nye (703) 787-1011
Patrick Etchart (303) 231-3162

MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for America
U.S. Department of the Interior
 

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