Please join community leaders and administration officials for a public listening session and discussions in Memphis, Tennessee specifically on the importance and creation of a Blueways Initiative within the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The session will be held Wednesday, Septebmer 8, 2010 from 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m., in the at Headquarters of Ducks Unlimited.
 
 
 
This past April, at the White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors, President Obama signed a memorandum establishing the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to develop a conservation and recreation agenda worthy of the 21st century and to reconnect Americans with our great outdoors. The President understands that protecting and restoring the lands and waters that we love and reconnecting people to the outdoors must happen at the local level.
 
 Therefore, President Obama directed the principal leaders of the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to travel across the country to listen and learn from people directly involved in finding grassroots solutions to conserve our lands, waterways, historical and cultural resources, and reconnect Americans with our great outdoors. The President indicated that the sessions should engage the full range of interested groups, including tribal leaders, farmers and ranchers, sportsmen, community park groups, foresters, youth groups, businesspeople, educators, State and local governments, recreation and conservation groups, and others.
 
  The listening session in Memphis, Tennessee offers an opportunity to engage in a conversation about the solutions you and your community have created to protect vital river resources and the tools you'll need to better protect them in the future.  This public listening sessions and discussions on September 8 provide an opportunity for you and others to voice solutions for building a 21st century conservation and recreation agenda around the protection of rivers. Please join us and encourage others to participate. Here are the details: 
 
 Listening Session and Discussion Information:
 
 
When:                 Wednesday, Septemer 8, 2010 at 5:50 - 7:00 p.m.
 
  What:                   Public Listening Session on President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative with an emphasis on creating a Blueways Initiative 
 
 Where:                 Ducks Unlimited Headquarters, 1 Waterfowl Way, Memphis TN
 
 Who:                     THIS MEETING IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Representatives from CEQ and DOI have been invited to attend. This is an opportunity to give the administation ideas on the preservation of rivers and streams that link to treasured landscapes.
 
 
 Register:              This event is free and open to the public. We will make every effort to accommodate everyone. To help with our planning, we encourage you to pre-register by Tuesday, September 7, 2010. To pre-register, please email Renee Hoyos [email protected].  Include with your email your name and organization. We also welcome registration on the day of the listening session beginning at 5;00 P.M. at the Ducks Unlimited HQ
 
 Questions:            Call Renee Hoyos at (865) 607-6618 with any questions about the listening session. 
 
This event is sponsored by American Rivers, Ducks Unlimited and Tennessee Clean Water Network