National Issues:

Land and Water Conservation Fund
Roadless areas In National Forests
Air Quality

Regional Issues:

Saddleback Mountain, Maine
Sterling Forest, New York
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Land and Water Conservation Fund: Momentum continues to build in Washington around the idea of revitalizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund. With more than half a dozen LWCF-related proposals from both parties on the table and strong interest from key Senate and House leaders, grassroots pressure is starting to pay off. But there is still a long way to go before we pass legislation that will fully and permanently fund LWCF. Make sure that your Representative and Senators push for flexible funding to places like the Northern Forest and the Appalachian Highlands.

What you can do:

1. Write your Representatives and Senators and urge them pass legislation this year to fully fund LWCF. Emphasize the need for LWCF legislation to pass the "Northern Forest test" by delivering flexible funding for creative, locally supported conservation projects. For a sample letter, go to: http://www.outdoors.org/Conservation/ and click on "act now."
2. Call your Senators and Representative and tell them about the importance of your local parks or the need in your community for improved funding for parks and recreation. Remind them that full funding for the Land and Water Conservation is long overdue. Use the Capitol switchboard, 202-224-3121.
3. Attend the NJ Land and Water Conservation Summit- July 8th, Trenton: sponsored by Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation, The Governor's Council on NJ Outdoors, AMC and others. This event will feature Governor Whitman as keynote speaker and a panel discussion by members of NJ's Congressional Delegation on the status and prospects of Land and Water Conservation Fund legislation. The legacy of LWCF in NJ, priority areas for LWCF funding (Highlands, Pinelands, etc.), and strategies for restoring full funding to LWCF will be explored. To register, or for more information: contact Tom Gilbert, AMC Mid-Atlantic Conservation Advocate, at (609) 818-1776, or tgilbert@igc.org.

Roadless Areas in National Forests: In an effort to protect some of America’s last wilderness areas, the U.S. Forest Service imposed a temporary moratorium on road building in large areas of National Forest without roads. However, the temporary moratorium has not stopped industrial uses of these areas, such as mining, logging, utility lines and road building. Roads fragment habitat, cause sedimentation in otherwise pristine streams and cause habitat loss. As the Forest Service develops a long-term plan in the next few weeks, strong public support is needed in order to ensure permanent protection of the last remaining roadless areas of 1,000 acres or more. The U.S. Forest Service has declined to open a public comment period on their final plan; so it is important that the Forest Service hears from citizens.

What you can do: Ensure that future generations will have the opportunity to experience wilderness. Ask your Representative to sign onto the Hinchey-Horn Roadless Area Protection letter. You can contact your representative by going to http://www.outdoors.org/Conservation/ then click on "act now". Send a copy of your letter to Forest Service Chief Dombeck, U.S. Forest Service, P.O. Box 96090, Washington, DC 20090-6090 or call: 202-205-1661.

For more information: check out the Protect Our Heritage Forest’s website: http://www.ourforests.org

Air Quality: The US Court of Appeals ruled against the Environmental Protection Agency in a case brought by the American Trucking Association and others, to challenge the new air quality standards for particulates and ground level ozone. The ruling calls into question legislation that sets and meets health based goals to protect the public and the environment, including the power plant rule, the haze rule and efforts to improve emissions controls on light trucks and sports utility vehicles-- rules that give meaning to the Clean Air Act. The ruling also threatens other health, safety and environmental laws. The Court supported the need for standards, but questioned whether the EPA should set the level of a standard. It further ruled that Congress authorized tough standards, but didn’t want those standards enforced.

What you can do: Tell Attorney General Janet Reno, Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC 20530 and Administrator Carol Browner, EPA, 401 M St., Washington DC 20460 that you support strong air quality standards. Urge them to initiate an appeal of the court’s decision.

Saddleback Mountain, Maine: The Saddleback ski area has offered the National Park Service 660 acres of a limited easement for the Appalachian Trail along the Saddleback ridgeline. This proposal only allows hikers to cross the ski area’s land; it does not provide any protection for the trail corridor. The ski area proposal allows for the development of lifts, snowmaking pipelines within 200 feet of the trail. The easement would also allow new ski trails to cross the A.T. footpath. Saddleback mountain is a registered Maine Critical Area.

What you can do: Show strong support for protection of the Appalachian Trail on Saddleback by contacting the Maine congressional delegation. You can write to them by clicking on Act Now.

For more information: Contac Kevin Peterson: kpeterson@atconf.org or Chris Bitterauf at hbitt@exploremaine.com

To receive a copy of the EA: contact Pamela Underhill, Park Manager, Appalachian Trail Park Office, National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center, Harpers Ferry, WV, 25425. E-mail your request to: APPA_Project_office@nps.gov

Sterling Forest, New York: Last year, New York and New Jersey residents could celebrate the creation of a new state park: the Sterling Forest State Park. Through the cooperation of New Jersey, New York, the federal government and private donations, preservation of 12,500 acres of Sterling Forest was possible. Unfortunately, the Park does not include protection of the water rights, even though one of driving reasons to protect Sterling Forest involved preserving the drinking water of two million New Jersey residents who depend on the area to provide clean drinking water. Now, the Sterling Forest Corporation wants to develop the remaining 2,200 acres with about 1,300 homes.

What you can do: Write to Governors Whitman and Pataki to urge them to acquire the water rights and the remaining acreage in order to protect the drinking water supplies of over 2,000,000 New Jersey residents.

For more information: contact the Sterling Forest Partnership office at 914-294-3098 or via email: sterlfor@magiccarpet.com

AMC CONSERVATION ACTION NETWORK

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Thanks!

Ruth Dinerman

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You can view the entire text of this alert, with links to other organizations, online at the AMC website: http://www.outdoors.org/Conservation/Hot-News/

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