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> YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED FOR IOWA'S ENVIRONMENT
>
> In politics, timing is everything.  For Iowa's
> environment, the time is now.
>
> The Iowa Legislature is poised to offer the first
> significant bill on
> livestock and the environment in more than seven
> years.
>
>  Legislators are currently receiving form letters
> from constituents in
> an attempt by special interests to further weaken
> the bill.
>
> It is time to begin letting the Iowa Legislature
> know that Iowans
> demand strong measures to protect the environment.
>
> This takes actions on several fronts:
>
> 1.   Send legislators an e-mail.  Below is some
> suggested text that
> you might choose to include.  Send it to as many
> legislators as you
> choose.  (All legislators receive e-mail.  Getting
> their e-mail
> addresses is a simple matter.  Visit
> <http://www.legis.state.ia.us>
> scroll down to "Legislators" and click on the Senate
> and House
> "Downloadable E-Mail Addresses.")
>
>> Legislators tell us that having 10 constituents
take
> the time to
> express their opinion can make a difference in how
> they view an
> issue.  Be one of those 10, and help protect Iowa's
> environment.
>
> Thank you for your effort.
>
> **************************
>
> SUGGESTED TEXT:
>
> I care about the environment in Iowa.  I also care
> about the
> livestock industry.  If the two are to co-exist, the
> Iowa Legislature
> must take strong action.
>
> First, we should have a phosphorus standard in
> manure management
> plans for confined animal feeding operations
> (CAFOs).   Phosphorus is
> one of the leading causes of water quality problems
> in Iowa.
>
> Second, funding for CAFO oversight and enforcement
> must be adequate
> and provided by fees on the regulated industry-not
> on taxpayers and
> not by taking money from other funds.  Environmental
> funding has been
> cut too far and stretched too thin, so existing
> money must not be
> used to subsidize CAFO regulation enforcement.
>
> Finally, Iowa's most valuable waters must be
> protected.  The DNR
> should be given explicit authority to control
> livestock concentration
> that might threaten Iowa's parks and preserves,
> Iowa's "High Quality
> Waters" and "High Quality Resource Waters," (as
> defined in Chapter 61
> of the Administrative Code), and Iowa's "Protected
> Waters" (as
> defined in Chapter 426B of the Iowa Code).
>
> Please protect Iowa's environment by supporting laws
> that help solve
> some of the problems posed by too much concentration
> in the livestock
> industry.
>
> --
> Mark Bequeaith
> Communications Director
> Iowa Environmental Council
> 711 East Locust Street
> Des Moines, IA  50309
> 515.244.1194
> Web: www.earthweshare.org
>


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