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<br /> <br />FOREWORD <br /> <br />111f Mu/ti-objcctiw Flood Mitigation Plall presented ;/1 this dowment ami the process l11at Wil:; llSi'd <br /> <br />to prepare it rt'presCrlt historic steps in emergf'l1(Y management in tltis corm!ry.: 711e plawling workshop fleld in Parker. <br /> <br /> <br />South Dakotll, in June 1994, (J/Id tllis pum are "istoric in two ways-jim, because mitigatiorl is the future of e"'ergelley <br /> <br />mallagement; and second, bt'Cflllse the fll/llre will b('gin with focal im'olw11Jent and initilltiw. <br /> <br />IN THE PAST the Federal Emergency <br />Management Agency and other organi- <br />zations have responded to disasters. pro- <br />viding a lot of assistance to people in terms of <br />food, clothing, and shelter. These things are <br />vitally important, and we are not going to <br />stop. But there will be flooding and other <br />kinds of disasters every year. If we do nothing <br />more than provide the same band-aid answers <br />we will aUeviate the immediate problems. but <br />the problems will come back. Mitigation <br />demonstrates that we are going to learn from <br />past mistakes.-in allowing conditions that <br />enable these disasters to happen-and that <br />we are not going to repeat them. It is doing <br />things like using land for different, less disas. <br />ter.prone purposes: coming up with more <br />sensible allocations of funds; making sure we <br />examine all available options; and planning <br />ahead. Long-range planning is the way to <br />break the disaster.recovery-disaster cycle. It is <br />the way to ensure that the Vennillion Basin <br /> <br />and other areas throughout the country will <br />be able to withstand future tlooding without <br />the kind of economic distress, endangerment <br />to life. and environmental degradation that <br />we have seen all too often in the past. <br />The second historic aspect is that. rather <br />than having been drawn up by a few people. <br />this plan was generated through a completely <br />open. cooperative process right in the Vermillion <br />Basin. For one week about ISO people voiced <br />their concerns, expressed their ideas, and <br />argued their points of view to come up with a <br />range of options for alleviating future tlood <br />problems and making the Basin an even bet- <br />ter place to live. They were people from local, <br />county. state. and federal agencies of aU types, <br />people from charitable and nonprofit organi- <br />zations, business leaders, farmers, landown- <br />ers. and other Basin residents who are ready <br />to work toward preserving and improving <br />their quality of life and freeing themselves <br />from chronic concern over tlooding. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />This was a breakthrough event not only <br />for the Vennillion Basin and places like it. but <br />also for those of us in federal government. We <br />can change the public perception of govern- <br />ment as merely bureaucrats primarily inter- <br />ested in job preservation through perpetuat- <br />ing the papelWork and underlying problems. <br />FEMA. as a laboratol)' for the reinvention of <br />government. is trying to set an example for <br />other agencies. We are looking for partners <br />among the federal, state. and local govern- <br />ments, and the private sector. in doing a bet- <br />ter, more efficient job at everything we try. The <br />workshop. this plan, and the cooperative work <br />between FEMA, the National Park Service, <br />the State of South Dakota, and the many other <br />entities who helped put them together, are shin- <br />ing examples of the kind of effort citizens have <br />a right to expect from their governments. <br />This plan is proof that policies can be <br />made in ways that are accessible to-and <br />driven by-public needs and concerns; that <br /> <br />