HI All, THis is SO scary! Please use the link below to contact our Congresspeople. It literally takes about one minute.... This Land is Your Land...Betsy ----- Original Message ----- From: "The Wilderness Society" <[log in to unmask]> To: "Betsy Newcomer" <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 6:16 AM Subject: WILDALERT: Bush Budget Puts Our Public Lands on Blue-Light Special > ***************************************** > * WILDALERT -- Wednesday, February 15, 2006 > * Brought to you by The Wilderness Society > ***************************************** > > PEDDLING AMERICANS' BIRTHRIGHT AIMS TO RAISE $1 BILLION FOR > TREASURY > > As much as 800,000 acres of Americans' public land would be sold > into private hands under one egregious provision of President > Bush's proposed budget. Astonishingly, less than two months ago, > bipartisan opposition in the Congress defeated a similar scheme. > This absurd proposal deserves the same reaction from all of us. > Please send that message to your Members of Congress! You can > take action immediately by clicking here: > http://action.wilderness.org/campaign/selloff/inn7sdd2hjnbjkm? > > ***************************************** > > ELIMINATING AMERICA'S PUBLIC LANDS > > Though many details of President Bush's 2007 budget are still > murky, some, regrettably, are painfully clear. Amid serious cuts > to public lands programs (already grossly under-funded) there > now comes a blatant proposal to begin selling off our public > lands themselves. > > It's not a new idea. The anti-environmental right has long > cherished a fevered pipedream of selling off America's public > estate. The President's budget proposal is a dangerous > escalation of the crusade that now shows signs of becoming a > trend. > > LIKE A BROKEN RECORD > > Just two months ago, Rep. Richard Pombo included in a budget > reconciliation bill a provision to sell off millions of acres of > land to mining interests and developers. The measure passed the > House. But unified opposition from western conservationists, > hunters, anglers, local elected officials, businesses, governors > and Democratic and Republican Senators alike forced its removal. > > Similar coalitions have blocked other such extreme proposals, > including one in which Pombo actually identified units of the > National Park System to sell. > > OVER 800,000 ACRES COULD BE LOST TO THE PUBLIC > > In all, over 300,000 acres within our National Forests could be > sold in 32 states. California would suffer most with 85,000 > acres on the block, but this isn't just a threat to western > public lands. In the southeast, where public lands are rare, > 55,000 acres could be sold. > > The Administration has already identified the forest lands it > will sell. It has given the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) a > sales quota, marching orders more appropriate to door-to-door > salesmen than to professional land managers. That agency will > identify sales tracts as it completes its land use plans. But to > meet the Administration's sales quota, the agency might need to > sell as many as half a million additional acres. > > IMPORTANT LANDS IN VALUED PLACES > > Administration spokespeople are struggling to depict these land > sales as small, isolated, of no particular public value or > consequence. Nonsense. One is a 160-acre parcel in the Big Creek > drainage of Emigrant, MT, in a popular recreation area adjacent > to an upscale guest ranch. Another includes over 700 acres of > the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area in Oregon and > Washington. A third comprises 1,300 acres along a remote and > rugged river gorge with rare low-elevation old-growth forest in > Washington. > > Why? There is no good reason but there is a formal excuse: to > raise money to help fund rural roads and schools. No one doubts > the federal obligation to help local governments pay for such > things, but the help should come, as it currently does, from the > general treasury, as a broad public responsibility, not from > casually peddling America's icons. Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO) sees > the plan as a destructive way to pay for what he considers > reckless tax cuts. "It's like selling your homestead to pay your > credit cards," he said. > > Voicing his concern, Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) said, "public lands > are an asset that need to be managed and conserved." And Rep. > George Miller (D-CA) said, "The suggestion that the only way to > fund rural schools is to sell off our national forests is just > ludicrous in a nation this wealthy." > > ***************************************** > > HOW YOU CAN HELP: TAKE ACTION TODAY! > > It is critical that our congressional representatives know very > early on that we are opposed to selling our public lands. Budget > sense should rest on leadership and political courage, not on > slapdash schemes to sell the public estate. Please act today! > You can send your comments to your Members of Congress > immediately by clicking here: > http://action.wilderness.org/campaign/selloff/inn7sdd2hjnbjkm? > > But if you can find time to write your own comments, that would > be the most helpful. We have included a sample letter from which > you can draw the major points. > > You can send that letter directly to: > > Rep. Tom Allen > U.S. House of Representatives > 1127 Longworth House Office Building > Washington, DC 20515-0001 > > Sen. Olympia Snowe > U.S. Senate > 154 Russell Senate Office Building > Washington, DC 20510-0001 > > Sen. Susan Collins > U.S. Senate > 461 Dirksen Senate Office Building > Washington, DC 20510-0001 > > Click here to look up additional contact information for your > Senators and Representative: > http://action.wilderness.org/wilderness/leg-lookup/search.tcl > > FOR MORE INFORMATION > > Click here to see how much Forest Service land in your state is > potentially on the auction block: > http://action.wilderness.org/ct/5pwb1M713uQn/ProposedLandSalesFY07 > > ***************************************** > > SAMPLE LETTER > > Dear Representative/Senator: > > President Bush's proposed budget for FY2007 includes a > monumentally wrongheaded scheme to raise money by selling off > what could amount to 800,000 acres of America's treasured public > lands. I am strongly opposed to any such sale and urge you to > ensure that it joins other recent land privatization schemes on > the legislative trash heap. > > Our public lands are an American birthright, something that > makes our homeland unique. Those lands deserve protection, > defense and thoughtful stewardship. They are not commodities to > be used in a shortsighted, craven scramble for a few dollars, > simply because we lack the political courage to appropriate > outright what we need to meet our obligations. Our public lands > are treasures that we should rightly hand on to our children and > to our grandchildren. > > Late last year, Rep. Richard Pombo proposed, and the House > approved in the budget reconciliation bill, an outlandish scheme > to sell millions of acres out of public ownership and into the > hands of mining companies and other developers. The resultant > outcry from anglers, hunters and other conservationists, from > western governmental leaders, from ranchers and business people, > was such that the provision was scrapped before the budget > resolution was approved. > > The President's land disposal scheme is equally objectionable > and warrants the same end. I believe it is crucial for Members > of Congress to publicly declare their opposition to this > harebrained idea and to do so immediately. > > Our public lands deserve more than to be treated as a budgetary > slush fund. As a voter and a lover of our public lands, I count > on you to defend them. > > Sincerely, > (Your name and address) > > ***************************************** > > The Wilderness Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to > conserving American wilderness. Our mission is to ensure that > future generations will enjoy the clean air and water, wildlife, > beauty, and opportunity for recreation and renewal provided by > pristine forests, rivers, deserts, and mountains. As a > subscriber to WildAlert, you join more than 300,000 Wilderness > Society members and supporters in our efforts to protect and > restore America's wild places. > > ***************************************** > Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this. > http://action.wilderness.org/wilderness/join-forward.html?domain=wilderness&r=Ypwb1M714jzK& > > If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for > the The Wilderness Society Center at: > http://action.wilderness.org/wilderness/join.html?r=Ypwb1M714jzKE& > > To unsubscribe or update your address and account information, > please visit your subscription management page for WildAlert at: > > http://action.wilderness.org/wilderness/smp.tcl?nkey=inn7sdd2hjnbjkm& > > > *********************************** > Powered by GetActive Software, Inc. > Relationship Management for Member Organizations (tm) > http://www.getactive.com > *********************************** > > > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.15.11/264 - Release Date: 2/17/2006 > >