MEDIA ADVISORY

SECRETARY NORTON TO CELEBRATE EARTH DAY IN FLORIDA

NORTON WILL RELEASE MELALEUCA-EATING INSECTS AT NEW FACILITY, GIVE
MAJOR ADDRESS ON "NEW ENVIRONMENTALISM" TO PALM BEACH FORUM CLUB

WASHINGTON - Interior Secretary Gale Norton will celebrate Earth Day in south Florida. Norton will dedicate a new $6.2 million facility to help eradicate invasive species and protect fragile wetland ecosystems. At the ceremony, biologists will release into the Everglades a small sap-sucking bug called the melaleuca psyllid that attacks and kills melaleuca saplings and seedlings. The following day she will give a major speech on "new environmentalism," focusing on forming partnerships to solve challenges in south Florida with local citizens.

On April 22, Norton will speak and hold a press availability at the new invasive species control facility in Davie, a cooperative project with the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The facility will allow scientists to quarantine and evaluate insects that might be natural predators of invasive exotic plant species.

"Controlling the spread of invasive species and stopping the introduction of new invasive species is an important part of Everglades restoration," Norton said. "This new facility will allow biologists to discover new biological controls to stem the spread of invasive species, such as melaleuca, which threaten both agriculture and the Everglades ecosystem."

On April 23, Norton will address the Palm Beach Forum Club in West Palm Beach. She will hold a media immediately following her remarks.

RELEASE OF MELALEUCA-EATING INSECTS:

Who:       Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior
                 Representative Clay Shaw
                 Honorable Les Brownlee, Undersecretary of the Army
                Jim Moseley, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture

What:     Dedication of the Invasive Plant Control Facility
                and Melaleuca Psyllid Release

When:    2 p.m, April 22: Commemoration of Invasive Plant Control Facility
                3:30 p.m, April 22: Melaleuca Psyllid Release, 4:15 p.m, media availability

Where:   Ceremony: University of Florida's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education
                 Facility, 3205 College Avenue. From I-595 take Davie Rd. south; right on Nova
                 Drive, turn left onto College Avenue to the first right at UF campus
                 Release: Everglades Holiday Park. Take I-595 west to I-75 north to US 27
                 south; turn right (west) onto Griffin Road and go to the end of the road.

PALM BEACH FORUM CLUB ADDRESS:

Who:      Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior

What:     Speech to Palm Beach Forum Club

When:    Remarks Tuesday, April 23, at 8:00 a.m, media availability at 9:00 a.m.

Where:   West Palm Beach Sheraton
                 630 Clearwater Park Road
                  West Palm Beach, FL
                 (1 mile east of I-95 at Okeechobee Blvd., exit 52)

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