We are a week away from the Iowa Chapter's Annual Dinner. Please take a
few minutes to look around for items you can donate to our silent
auction: Pictures of the natural world, backpacking equipment,
home-baked or home-canned goods, books, souvenirs from around the world,
or significant antiques.
If you are not going to be attending the dinner, you can still help out
by getting donated items to the office across from the Merle Hay Mall.
Thank you for helping the chapter. Your donations help us attend
regulatory meetings, carry out campaigns, and make our agencies
responsible for a better environment.
Jim Redmond
Conservation Chair Northwest Iowa Group
Chapter Fundraising Committee
712-279-5544
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Jim Redmond
Professor of English
Briar Cliff University
712-279-5544
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-----Original Message-----
From: Iowa Discussion, Alerts and Announcements
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jane Clark
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2005 3:12 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Contact Leach on Endangered Species
Here is some additional information on the Endangered Species Act and
threats to weaken it.
ACTION: Please call Representative Leach and ask him to oppose
Representative Pombo's bill that would weaken the protections of the
Endangered Species Act.
REPRESENTATIVE LEACH: (202) 225-6576
RESOURCES COMMITTEE MAY VOTE ON ESA BILL AS SOON AS NEXT WEEK!
Congress will likely consider a bill that would weaken the Endangered
Species Act as early as next week. House Resources Committee Richard
Pombo
has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday, September 21st and a vote in the
full
committee on Thursday, September 22nd.
We need your help to stop this bill. We cannot allow action to weaken
the
Endangered Species Act to happen on our watch. The Endangered Species
Act
is a safety net that protects wildlife, fish and plants on the brink of
extinction. Rep. Pombo's bill would cut large holes in this safety net.
It is critical that Members of Congress stand up for our natural
heritage
and oppose his scheme to repeal the protections that the Endangered
Species
Act provides. Please call your Member of Congress and urge them to
oppose
this and any bill that would weaken the Endangered Species Act.
Talking points
o I am calling to ask you to support for the Endangered Species Act and
oppose any bill that would weaken protections for endangered species and
habitat.
o Next week, Representative Richard Pombo plans to introduce
legislation
that could aggressively strip the Endangered Species Act of its
strongest
protections. Representative Pombo is controversial and out of step with
the
American public's support of the Endangered Species Act.
o For over thirty years, the Endangered Species Act has been a safety
net
for wildlife, fish and plants on the brink of extinction. It has been
successful in preventing the extinction of the American Bald Eagle, the
gray
wolf, the pacific salmon, (or other local species) as well as many other
species.
o The Endangered Species Act stands for fundamental principles that we
all
believe in and cannot allow to be weakened or removed. o In fact, 86%
of
Americans support the Endangered Species Act.
o Please support the Endangered Species Act and oppose any bill that
would
weaken protections for endangered species and habitat.
BACKGROUND:
Representative Pombo's Extinction bill would gut the Endangered Species
Act
on behalf of developers, oil companies, timber companies, mining
companies
and extreme property rights groups.
We have not yet seen the full legislative language, but have seen a
summary
of the major points. According to reports, the bill would:
* change the definition of conservation, to abandon the nation's
commitment
to recovering species on the brink of extinction
* redefine the definition of endangered species so that the species
must be
endangered throughout its entire range. (If this provision was law when
the
ESA was first enacted, it would have been impossible to list the bald
eagle,
the grizzly bear, the gray wolf and many other species who are
endangered in
the lower 48, but not endangered in Alaska or Canada.)
* weaken protections for species listed as "threatened" under the law
* weaken habitat protection, by requiring only occupied, and not
unoccupied, habitat be protected
* exempt federal agencies from the requirement to consult with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service on actions that might impact endangered
species
* require the federal government to pay landowners for the cost of
complying with the law, under an onerous "takings" provision
While the provisions of the bill may change by the time it is
introduced,
the draft shows that the real purpose of this bill is to weaken the
provisions of the Endangered Species Act.
The Endangered Species Act is a safety net that protects wildlife, fish
and
plants on the brink of extinction. It has been enormously successful in
preventing the extinction of hundreds of species, including bald eagles,
gray wolves and Pacific salmon. We must not diminish protections for
these
magnificent animals, or for the places they call home.
Thank you for your work to protect endangered species and habitat.
To contact other Members of Congress:
Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Ask for your Member of Congress's office.
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Join us at Sierra Summit 2005. For information go to:
http://www.sierrasummit2005.org/
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to:
[log in to unmask]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Join us at Sierra Summit 2005. For information go to:
http://www.sierrasummit2005.org/
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to:
[log in to unmask]
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