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Post-election Riders Threaten Wildlife & Habitat
Dear Friend of
Wildlife:
Post-election attempts to weaken protections for our nation's
wildlife and wild places have already begun. Behind closed doors -- with no
public debate or scrutiny -- members of Congress are considering a
proposal
to undermine protections for the wildlife and wild places that American
cherish.
In question are a series of legislative riders that may be
tacked onto the must-pass Omnibus Appropriations bill due to be voted on any day
now. Legislative riders are backdoor attempts to pass legislation that
would
likely not withstand votes on their own. Included on this list of threats are
provisions that would approve a 200,000 acre land swap in an Alaskan Wildlife
Refuge to promote oil and gas development, waive environmental reviews for
cattle grazing on our public lands and prevent citizens from challenging timber
sales in our nation's largest National Forest.
Another possible rider
would literally gut the Endangered Species Act -- our nation's bedrock wildlife
protection law. In this specific case, the rider would amend the
Endangered Species Act to allow critical
habitat areas to be destroyed and to
require continuation of development plans that are proven to threaten endangered
species. If passed, this legislation would be the most major rewrite of the
Endangered Species
Act since 1982!
ACTION: Help stop these attacks on
wildlife by calling your representative and two senators. Be sure to make
the following two points:
1) Tell them to oppose any riders that would
undermine protections for America's endangered species and special places like
our national forests, wildlife refuges and other public lands.
2)
Urge them not to let these devastating riders be attached or voted through on
the Omnibus coattails. Let them know that massive public policy changes should
not be done through stealth riders. Rather, they
should be subject to
rigorous public review and debate.
To reach your senators, call the
Capitol Switchboard at .
To find your
members of Congress, go to: http://action.nwf.org/nwf/leg-lookup/search.tcl
We need more recovery of endangered
species and more protection of essential habitat areas, not less.
Thank you in
advance for taking the time to speak out on behalf of our nation's wildlife and
wild places!
NWF's Wildlife
Team
P.S. Called your members of Congress and want to do more? Tell
your friends and family to call their members of Congress, by forwarding this
alert along to them.
Let us know you took action by sending an
email with your name and address to .
Please include "Appropriations" in the subject
line.
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