This week I am in Baltimore attending the 25th Anniversary meeting of the Wildlife Habitat Council. The WHC was formed in 1988 as a member-driven organization composed of corporations, conservation groups and individuals dedicated to restoring wildlife habitat on corporate lands.
This past April, Dave Kanagy, John Hayden and I met with WHC president Margaret O'Gorman at their offices in Silver Spring, Maryland to discuss opportunities for SME and WHC to work together. As a result of that meeting Margaret agreed to participate on the keynote panel, Community Engagement: Building Partnerships for Mining, at SME's annual meeting in Salt Lake City next February.
Kevin Butt, 2013 WHC chairman, myself and Margaret O'Gorman, WHC president
Several mining companies are corporate members of the WHC and are participating at this event in Baltimore. Vulcan Materials, Oldcastle, CEMEX, Unimen, Lafarge and Freeport McMoRan are well represented. In fact, Vulcan, CEMEX, Unimen, Lafarge and Freeport are on the WHC Board of Directors. Freeport
will also participate on the SME keynote panel in Salt Lake.
WHC has many innovative programs to encourage biodiversity at businesses such as Corporate Lands for Learning and various certifications for wildlife enhancements.
I am pleased to see the WHC take a pragmatic approach to environmental stewardship by recognizing the need to partner with for-profit companies to reach the WHC goal of increased biodiversity. Companies have the land that WHC needs. They also have the financial resources, manpower and full understanding of the need for a local social license to operate that requires giving something back to the community. In the case of mining, it means beginning with the end in mind and viewing mining as a transitional land use to something more sustainable for the local community in the longer term.