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82 



The 



Nature 



Conservancy 



Dakotas Field Office 701/222-8464 



STATEMSMT OF JOSEPH A. SATROH 



DIRECTOR, DAKOTAS FIELD OFFICB 



THE NATURE CONSERVANCY 



BEFORE THE U.S. SENATE SMALL BUSINESS COMMITTEE 



SEFTEtlBBR 4, 1993 



RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA 



Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, my name is Joseph Satrom, 

 and I am the Director of The Nature Consei vancy's field office in the 

 Dakotas . 



Th« Nature Conservancy is an international non-profit land 

 conservation organization dedicated to the preaervation of biological 

 diversity. The mission of The Nature Coneervancy is to identify 

 sensitive, rare and endangered speciea and to protect and maintain 

 these apeciee, natural communities and ecoeyetesis . 



In South Dakota, The Nature Coneervancy has 13 preserves 

 involving 11,188 acres. Over 1,050 individual South Dakotans and more 

 than two dozen of the state's businesses are members of the 

 Coneervancy. Nationally we have 707, 000 members and over 800 Corporate 

 Associates. We ovm approximately 1 million acres within the United 

 Statea protecting many of the country's threatened and endangered 

 Bpecies . 



For the information of the Committee, I have attached a list of 

 our South Dakota preserves and a list of our Board of Trueteea. 



Our organization appxeciatee the opportunity to appear here today 

 to reflect our views on the balance that should and must exist between 

 economic activity and future growth and protection of our environment. 



The Nature Coneervancy is committed to carrying out our 

 conservation mission in a non- adversarial, non-couf rontational , non- 

 litigioue manner. 



Our organization believes that a sustainable ecor.omy is dependent 

 on a sustainable environment and vice versa. The Black Hills of South 

 Dakota repreeent, in dramatic ptuportion, Che economic forces and 

 concerns and r. Miner vat ion Issues and serious environmental queetiona 

 and Challenges facing all of us, everywhere on this earth. 



The South Dakota Chapter believes that far more and better 

 ficientif ically-derive.d Information must be collected on rare plants, 

 animals, natural commvaiities and ecosystemB of the Black Hills and the 

 entire etote of South Dakota. Despite Che biological diversity, 

 richness and uniqueness of the Hills region, there is surprisingly 



^» North Dakota Chapter Ol.'icr- / 1014 East C«ntrnl Avenue, Bisn>aKk, Ninth Dakota 58501-1936 



^^ South Dakota Ch.<ptcr Off ice / 19fe East Si>lh Stre et. P.O Box ?ta7. Siou.x Fal b. South Da lcol;) 57117-5107 



