The Public Lands Funding Initiative (PLFI) needs your help to turn around a very dangerous trend of devastating cuts for public lands programs in the House 1999 Budget resolution.
Please read the following alert and please ask your Representative to tell House Speaker Newt Gingrich and House Budget Chair John Kasich that he/she will oppose the house budget resolution unless funding for environment and natural resource programs is restored.
Please make your calls before Congress comes back from the Memorial Day recess on June 1.
Thanks,
Roger Featherstone
GREEN Director
GREEN DOLLARS FOR GREEN PROGRAMS!!!
Urgent Action Needed To Stop Devastating Funding Cuts To Public Lands And Wildlife Programs!
Earlier this year, many of you signed on to the Public Lands Funding Initiative (PLFI) to support critically needed funding increases for key programs that protect and conserve our wildlife refuges, forests, parks, other public lands, wildlife, fish and plants -- including the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Now, we need your help to stop devastating funding cuts currently proposed in the Fiscal Year 1999 House Budget Resolution.
Late Wednesday night, the House Budget Committee passed its FY99 Budget Resolution. The Resolution will go to the House floor the week of June 1 when Representatives return from their Memorial Day District work period. Since Members will be in their districts all next week, you have a great opportunity to personally tell your Member of Congress that you oppose the destructive funding cuts proposed by this resolution.
The House Budget Resolution contains about $5 billion in cuts over the next five years to programs that conserve and protect our environment and natural resources -- these cuts are over and above deep cuts already contained in last year's Balanced Budget Agreement. Moreover, the Resolution provides for an additional $12.3 billion in unspecified cuts -- some of these could come out of environment and natural resource programs as well. PLEASE ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO TELL HOUSE SPEAKER NEWT GINGRICH AND HOUSE BUDGET CHAIR JOHN KASICH THAT HE/SHE WILL OPPOSE THE HOUSE BUDGET RESOLUTION UNLESS FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCE PROGRAMS IS RESTORED.
Our public lands and fish and wildlife programs are already underfunded even under current budget levels. Additional cutbacks will cripple these vital programs even further. With these new cuts the following needs will become even worse, for example:
LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND. With the proposed funding cuts, the backlog of needed acquisitions under the Land and Water Conservation Fund to protect key land, water, and open space resources will continue to grow. Opportunities to protect wildlife habitat, water resources, wilderness areas, and provide recreational opportunities for our families and communities will be lost.
ENDANGERED SPECIES PROTECTION. With the proposed funding cuts, the Fish and Wildlife Service cannot address the backlog of at least 400 species needing listing under the Act nor implement desperately needed recovery activities, including support to landowners for essential efforts on public lands.
OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE NEEDS OF OUR WILDLIFE REFUGES, PARKS, AND FORESTS. With the proposed funding cuts, the deterioration of our wildlife refuges, parks, and forests will continue. The National Wildlife Refuge System alone currently has an $850 million backlog in operations and maintenance needs and cannot carry out needed monitoring of fish, wildlife, and plant populations, habitat restoration projects, nor provide compatible recreational activities.
AGAIN, PLEASE ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO TELL HOUSE SPEAKER GINGRICH AND HOUSE BUDGET CHAIR KASICH THAT HE/SHE WILL OPPOSE THE HOUSE BUDGET RESOLUTION UNLESS FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCE PROGRAMS IS RESTORED. Your Members of Congress can be reached in Washington at 202-224-3121 or in their districts from May 22-June 1. It is critical that you let your Member of Congress know about your opposition to the House Budget Resolution before it goes to the House floor when Members return after June 1.
Please make a special effort to contact your Member of Congress if on
the list below:
Bass (R-2/NH)
Bereuter (R-1/NE)
Bilbray (R-CA)
Blute (R-MA)
Boehlert (R-23/NY)
Castle (R-At Large/DE)
Davis (R-11/VA)
Diaz-Balart (R-21/FL)
Ehlers (R-3/MI)
English (R-21/PA)
Fawell (R-13/IL)
Foley (R-16/FL)
Forbes (R-1/NY)
Fox (R-13/PA)
Franks (R-7/NJ)
Freylinghuysen (R-NJ)
Ganske (R-IA)
Gilchrest (R-1/MD)
Gillmor (R-5/OH)
Gilman (R-20/NY)
Goss (R-14/FL)
Greenwood (R-8/PA)
Hobson (R-OH)
Horn (R-38/CA)
Houghton (R-38/MA)
Jenkins (R-TN)
Johnson (R-6/CT)
Kelly (R-19/NY)
Kingston (R-GA)
Klug (R-2/WI)
LaTourette (R-19/OH)
Lazio (R-2/NY)
Leach (R-1/IA)
Lewis (R-CA)
LoBiondo (R-2/NJ)
McInnis (R-CO)
Miller (R-FL)
Morella (R-8/MD)
Porter (R-10/IL)
Quinn (R-30/NY)
Ramstad (R-3/MN)
Regula (R-16/OH)
Ros-Lehtinen (R-18/FL)
Roukema (R-5/NJ)
Sanford (R-1/SC)
Saxton (R-3/NJ)
Shaw (R-22/FL)
Shays (R-4/CT)
Smith (R-4/NJ)
Upton (R-6/MI)
Walsh (R-25/NY)
Wamp (R-TN)
Weldon (R-7/PA)
White (R-1/WA)
Wolf (R-10/VA)
Young (R-10/FL)
Roger Featherstone, GREEN Director
PO Box 40046, Albuquerque, NM 87196-0046
(505) 277-8302 fax, (505) 277-5483 rfeather@defenders.org
http://www.defenders.org/grnhome.html
GREEN DC Office
1101 14th St., NW, Ste. 1400, Washington, DC 20005 (202) 682-9400