The Cooperative Conservation Award Ceremony

The award ceremony was in the auditorium of the Main Interior building.

The ceremony opened with a color guard and the singing of the National Anthem.

The keynote speaker was Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne.

A photographer took photos of all of the award winners, so eventually I'll have a picture of us with the Secretary. For now, here's the nearest award winners to our own region: the Willamette River Water Trail Partnership. Secretary Kempthorne is second from the right.

SCA Vice President Jay Satz watches the ceremony and inspects his copy of the award certificate.

After the ceremony, we got a photo of the whole group with my own camera. I'm on the left in uniform next to Jay Satz (SCA), Sean Smith (NPCA), and Superintendent Dave Uberuaga. We're flanked by representatives of Congressman Norm Dicks, who attended the ceremony.

The partnerships workshop begins tomorrow. It'll be interesting to hear from all the different award winners.