--- Bart Semcer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Date:         Thu, 9 Jan 2003 16:17:37 -0500
> From:         Bart Semcer
> <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: ACT: State Wildlife Grants In Jeopardy
> To:           [log in to unmask]
>
> TO:       Sierra Club Wildlife and Endangered
> Species Activists
> FROM:     Bart Semcer, Associate Washington, DC
> Representative
> DATE:     January 9, 2003
>
> STATE WILDLIFE GRANTS IN JEOPARDY
>
> In the last two years the federal State Wildlife
> Grants Program has
> provided $160 million dollars - $75 million in FY
> 2001 and $85 million in
> FY 2002 - to state governments in order to conserve
> America's wildlife.
> This year, with a slow economy and the Bush
> Administration shifting the
> nation's priories away from conserving America's
> wildlife resources and
> towards war in the Middle East, continued funding
> for this valuable program
> is in jeopardy. Your calls to your Senators and
> Representative are needed
> today to keep the State Wildlife Grants Program
> adequately funded and
> continue the valuable wildlife conservation programs
> it supports!
>
> Please call your Senators and Representative today
> at 202-224-3121
>
> If you do not know who your Senators and
> Representative are visit
> http://congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/
>
> Tell them:
>
> 1)   You support funding for the State Wildlife
> Grants program.
>
> 2)   You would like to see $100 million budgeted
> this year for the State
> Wildlife Grants Program, the same amount budgeted by
> the
>             House of Representatives in their
> version of the Interior
> Appropriations Bill.
>
> 3)   Ask them to call the Interior Appropriations
> Committee and relay your
> message.
>
> It is expected that Congress will make a final
> decision on what level of
> funding these programs will receive in the next 2 to
> 3 weeks. Please call
> your Senators and Representative today!
>
> BACKGROUND
>
> State governments are entrusted with the primary
> authority for conserving
> America's fish and wildlife.  Historically however,
> state-based wildlife
> conservation efforts have been underfunded and the
> funding unreliable,
> especially for non-game species.  In 2001 Congress
> established the State
> Wildlife Grants Program to support the ability of
> state governments to be
> leaders in wildlife conservation.  To date the
> program has returned $160
> million to the states, enabling them to carry out
> valuable projects that
> conserve native wildlife and their habitat.  These
> projects have included:
>
>
>    The restoration of seabird habitat on the Kure
> Atoll in Hawaii.  The
>    Kure Atoll is part of a system of nature reserves
> stretching the length
>    of the Hawaiian Islands.
>
>    Research in Indiana to determine the summer
> habitat needs of the Indiana
>    bat, a federally listed Endangered species.
>
>    The development of an inventory of rare wildlife
> on public lands in
>    Michigan.
>
>    Rehabilitation of habitat in Nevada for the
> Southwest willow flycatcher,
>    a federally listed Endangered species.
>
>    Reintroduction of the iron color and bridle
> shiners, two imperiled fish
>    species, in Pennsylvania.
>
>    The provision of financial incentives to private
> landowners in Texas who
>    take voluntary actions to conserve rare species
> on their property.
>
>    The identification of important habitats in
> Wyoming for the trumpeter
>    swan, a species conservationists have petitioned
> to list under the ESA.
>
>    A study in Colorado to identify the habitat
> preferences of the Gunnison
>    sage grouse, a candidate for listing under the
> Endangered Species Act.
>    This study will enable wildlife managers to focus
> funding and energy on
>    those areas most important to the conservation of
> the species;
>
> The State Wildlife Grants program is having real
> impacts on wildlife
> conservation by conserving habitats, restoring
> species and developing
> locally-based stewardship efforts.  It is a program
> that is conserving
> America's natural heritage, for our families and for
> our future.  It is a
> program Congress and the Bush Administration should
> invest in.  Please call
> your Senators and Representative today.
>
> For more information contact:
>
> Bart Semcer
> Associate Washington, DC Representative
> [log in to unmask]
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> - - - - - -
> To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions,
> see:
>  http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp


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