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NRPA Action Alert 4/15/05: Call Legislators
to Sign-on "Dear Colleague" Letters |
"Dear Colleague" Letters Circulating in House
and Senate- Co-Signers
Needed, Please Call Legislators
What's Happening: A number of advocacy
organizations have joined NRPA
to encourage senators and representatives to
sign-on to "Dear Colleague"
letters requesting restoration of funds for Land
and Water Conservation
Fund (LWCF) State Assistance in the 2006 budget.
Who's Doing It: Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and
Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO)
are leading the effort in the Senate, and have
sponsored a letter
requesting $91.5 million for Land and Water
Conservation Fund State
Assistance. To view the Senate letter click the
following link:
http://www.nrpa.org/content/default.aspx?documentId=2085
In the House, Rep. James McGovern (D-MA), Rep.
Rush Holt (D-NJ), and
Rep. Wayne Gilcrest (R-MD) sponsored a letter
requesting $100 million
for Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)
State Assistance. The
House letter can viewed by clicking the
following link:
http://www.nrpa.org/content/default.aspx?documentId=2084
The letters are directed to the respective House
and Senate
Subcommittees on Interior Appropriations.
What You Can Do: Call the U.S. Capitol
Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and
ask for the phone numbers of your 2 senators and
your representative.
When connected, tell them who you are and where
you are calling from.
Ask to speak to the staff person that handles
Interior Appropriations.
Tell them that you would like your Member to
sign-on to the "Dear
Colleague" letter requesting funding for Land
and Water Conservation
Fund State Assistance. Please call all three of
your U.S. legislators.
To justify your request, use these key points:
* You oppose the President's proposal to
eliminate the Land and
Water Conservation Fund State Assistance program
from the federal
budget in FY 2006.
* Explain what LWCF State Assistance has done
for your community
and what an enormous impact it has had in your
district.
* LWCF State Assistance was funded at
$91.5 million last year (FY
2005) and totals $544 million over the last 4
years. This averages
over $100 million each year.
* The LWCF state/local program matches funds
50/50 to assist in
parks and recreation infrastructure development
and in the creation of
new public parks.
* These funds help to develop sports fields,
neighborhood parks,
and community gathering places.
* There is no other program that provides the
permanent
conservation or the active recreation benefits
that LWCF does.
* LWCF State Assistance is funded through
revenue from Outer
Continental Shelf energy extraction receipts,
estimated at $5.6
billion for FY 2006.
* LWCF serves a vital national need-- the need
to get the
American public active and healthy, which they
can best do by recreating at
close-to-home recreation facilities and parks
aided by the LWCF State
Assistance.
* In the 40 year life of the LWCF, nearly 40,000
local and state
projects have been completed. Almost all these
recreation resources
are still in existence today.
If you are unsure who your U.S. legislators are
you can type in your
zip code at
www.congress.org or ask the Capitol
Switchboard Operator.
Please call today, the letters will be
circulating until next Friday,
4/22/05.
Remember to follow up with your legislator if it
is appropriate.
Please report feedback from congressional
offices to mphillips@nrpa.org.
Michael Phillips
Policy and Advocacy Specialist
NRPA Public Policy
202-887-0290
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If you feel
as we do, we invite you to join in our
efforts |
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