Urgent Call to Action: Vote in D.C. today to defund our National Conservation Lands

Dear Friends,

I am contacting you today with an urgent request. Please take the next five minutes to contact your Congressperson today to urge her/him to vote against Continuing Resolution Amendments No. 92, 203 and 515. Each of these amendments would compromise our National Conservation Lands (formally known as the National Landscape Conservation System) by eliminating funds to properly manage the lands and by eliminating an important conservation tool to expand the National Conservation Lands. The vote is scheduled to take place at 4:00 p.m. EST today. You can reach the US House of Representatives switchboard operator at 202-224-3121. You can also find the number for your individual representatives at http://clerk.house.gov.

Amendment 515 was introduced late Tuesday evening by Rob Bishop (R-UT). This amendment would completely eliminate funding for the National Conservation Lands. This means NO funding for more than 27 million acres of the BLM’s most prized lands. Pat Williams from the Friends of Red Rock Canyon explained to the media yesterday, if this amendment passes, “Red Rock Canyon would close to the public.” This means no rangers, no sign & trail maintenance, no hunting and fishing permits, etc.

When introducing his amendment, Rep. Bishop said, “I have yet to see a compelling example of how our nation benefits from adding another expensive layer of bureaucracy to the management of our public lands. Millions of dollars are wasted each year at the NLCS to fund a superfluous and unnecessary bureaucracy.”

Amendments 92 and 203 would effectively eliminate one of our nation’s greatest conservation tools – the Antiquities Act. The Antiquities Act is deeply rooted in American history. Since it was first used by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1906, the Antiquities Act has been utilized (most recently by President George W. Bush) to protect our nation’s most recognizable public treasures from the Grand Canyon to the Statue of Liberty. The President’s authority to create new National Monuments on public land already owned and used by the American people should not be curtailed or compromised.

Thank you for your ongoing support and prompt response to this request.

Sincerely,

Danielle

Danielle C. Sandstedt
Conservation Lands Foundation, Development Director
W 970-247-0807 Ext. 14
www.ConservationLands.org

To learn more about the actions taken by the Conservation Lands Foundation to mobilize our network of local partners to take action, please read on:

CLF drafted and circulated a sign-on letter against all three amendments. In less than 24 hours, 30 groups from across the nation signed on to the letter. This letter was distributed to the entire House of Representatives on Wednesday morning. Read the Sign On Letter.

CLF held a call with the press on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. EDT. We briefed and assembled spokespeople to discuss how Amendment No. 515 would be devastating to their communities and the National Monuments/National Conservation Areas they work to protect. We invited reporters from across the nation to join the call. Read our Press Advisory. We are continuing to see media outlets pick up this story. Groups Blast Bishop Over ‘Gutting’ Landscape Conservation