YOSEMITE-TORRES DEL PAINE SISTER PARK PARTNERSHIP

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000887 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR OES/ENV: RWING DEPT FOR OES/PCI: LSPERLING DEPT FOR WHA/EPSC: JBANDO DEPT PASS USAID TO LAC/RSD, LAC/SAM, G/ENV, PPC/ENV TREASURY FOR USED IBRD AND IDB AND INTL/MDB USDA FOR FOREST SERVICE: LIZ MAHEW INTERIOR FOR DIR INT AFFAIRS: K WASHBURN INTERIOR FOR FWS: TOM RILEY INTERIOR PASS USGS FOR INTERNATIONAL: J WEAVER JUSTICE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES: JWEBB EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL: CAM HILL-MACON USDA FOR ARS/INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH: G FLANLEY NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL: HAROLD STOLBERG E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV KPAO OIIP PREL CI SUBJECT: YOSEMITE-TORRES DEL PAINE SISTER PARK PARTNERSHIP Ref: Santiago 856 ¶1. SUMMARY. At the conclusion of the U.S.-Chile Joint Commission on Science and Technology (JCM) on May 10, a partnership between Yosemite National Park in California and Torres del Paine (TDP) in southern Chile was signed, the first of its kind between a U.S. and Chilean park. The partnership has already led to a bilateral plan of action between the parks and is another sign of the growing depth and breadth of U.S.-Chile environmental cooperation. END SUMMARY. SISTER PARK PARNTERSHIP GETS RIGHT TO WORK -------------- ¶2. Immediately after the conclusion of the second U.S.-Chile JCM (reftel),the U.S. and Chile signed a Sister Park Partnership between Yosemite National Park in California and Torres del Paine (TDP) in Patagonia in southern Chile. Visiting Chile for the signing were Yosemite Superintendent Mike Tollefson and Yosemite Chief of Education Chris Stein. Along with the Department's OES South American Hub Director James Story, the Yosemite officials visited TDP and Patagonia from May 11-17. During this visit, the parks agreed upon a work plan to be implemented immediately. ¶3. While in Patagonia, the Yosemite visitors teamed up with TDP Superintendent Jose Linnebrink for outreach meetings with local elected officials, the University of Magallanes (where the Embassy will soon open an American Corner) and regional media to highlight the Sister Park Partnership. During the visit to TDP itself to develop the joint work plan, the parks began sharing experiences on issues such as concessions, waste treatment, water quality issues, and especially how to use park revenues for education and conservation. ¶4. The next step in the work plan calls for Linnebrink and two TDP staff members to visit Yosemite in September. In addition to learning about Yosemite Park operations, TDP and Yosemite will work with a Chilean NGO, Fundacion Patagonia, and Chile's Consul General in San Francisco to raise awareness of the partnership and secure financial support for future activities. NEW FUNDING SHOWS CHILE'S ENVIRONMENTAL PRIORITIES -------------- -------------- ¶5. The Sister Park Partnership with Yosemite is part of a new dawn for TDP. The park's annual budget in 2007 will jump from last year's USD 44,000 to USD 1.25 million. The difference is due to an increase in the park admission fee from USD 20 to USD 30 and, most importantly to new rules allowing the bulk of those funds to remain for the park's use. In 2006, the park welcomed 120,000 visitors and that figure is expected to grow by seven percent in 2007. Superintendent Linnebrink has plans to add 16 more full-time positions, including biologists and ecologists, to the park's existing staff of 19 full-time employees. ¶6. COMMENT. The Sister Park Partnership was a great follow-up to the JCM and a clear outcome of U.S.-Chile environmental cooperation, as embodied in the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The FTA's full environmental chapter, which entered into force in 2004, has gone a long way in shifting Chilean public and governmental attitudes towards the role of conservation in Chile's economic development. We will seek innovate ways to support the Sister Park Partnership and other future U.S.-Chile environmental cooperation. KELLY