* Write a letter now.
* Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be transferred to your Senator
* Join an Action Team, contact Hannah Driscoll 617-523-0655 x386 or email her at hdriscoll@amcinfo.org
* Get more information on our Website (http://outdoors.org/Conservation/caraoverview.html) or call Amy MacNamara, 617-523-0655 x385

2. COASTAL CLEANUP DAY SLATED: On Sept. 16, grab your friends and neighbors and head out to your local beach to pick up a bag of trash. This annual international event helps bring more awareness to the issue of marine debris and its effects on coastal plants and animals. For example, many marine animals and birds lethally mistake plastics for food and ingest them, causing internal injury, intestinal blockage, and starvation. Thousands of seals, sea turtles, whales, and birds die every year from entanglement in fishing line, six-pack holders, and other plastic debris. Since the cleanup began in 1986, over a million people from more than 90 countries and 55 U.S. states and territories have volunteered to clean the oceans. In the past, these cleanups have instigated recycling campaigns, public education programs, adopt-a-beach programs, and even some legislative reform. Beach cleanups provide valuable information on the amount and types of marine debris; the knowledge can then be used to make a global difference.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: 

*Call the Center for Marine Conservation at 1-800-262-2322 to find out the specifics in your area. 
* Go to http://www.cmc-ocean.org/cleanupbro/index.php3 for additional information.

3. WHITE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST UPDATE: The U.S Forest Service has released the numbers on the comment period. They received 3,425 comments overall. Of those, at least 2,069 or 60 percent were generated from AMC members. Here's a breakdown of the AMC comments: 

* 471 e-mails from AMC's Website
* 1,540 AMC postcards
* 58 listening session comments

Public comment has sent a clear message to the U.S. Forest Service that protecting roadless areas and keeping off-road vehicles out of the White Mountain National Forest is extremely important. In September, the Forest Service will publish a summary report that goes into detail about the content of the comments. Following the summary publication, the Forest Service will work with the local planning groups to develop management alternatives. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Contact Amy McNamara at 617-523-0655 ext. 385 or at amcnamara@amcinfo.org for more information. 

REGIONAL ISSUES

4. NEW LAW WOULD HELP COMMUNITY PRESERVATION IN MASS.: After 13 years of frustrated efforts, the Massachusetts House and Senate leaders finally came to an agreement regarding the Massachusetts Community Preservation Act. If passed into law, this bill would give communities the option of raising taxes to preserve open space and historic landmarks, and to create new affordable housing where otherwise urban sprawl might dominate. The new law would enable communities to vote to add up to 3 percent to property taxes in order to create a fund for community preservation. It will also provide a new state fund through a $20 fee on deed transactions, which will provide matching dollars to communities that raise their taxes. The bill is now waiting for Gov. Paul Cellucci's signature. It is likely that he will sign it into law. 

5. MAINE POWER PLANT MIGHT BE FORCED TO REDUCE EMISSIONS: Wyman Station, a coal-fired electric power plant in Yarmouth, Maine, is the state's largest single source of pollution. Nitrogen Oxide (Nox) pollution significantly contributes to every major air pollution problem facing Maine, including ozone smog, acid rain, haze and visibility impairment, water quality deterioration, and climate change. Wyman Station's NOx emissions heavily impact the greater Portland area, and all areas Downeast, as far away as Acadia National Park. Currently, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has proposed a rule which, as written, would require the company to reduce the amount of NOx pollution emitted from Wyman Station by at least 44 percent. This would bring the plant in line with modern pollution standards. A reduction in NOx of this size would yield equivalent results to removing over 60,000 cars from the road. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

* Ask Jeff Crawford to support the adoption of Chapter 145, the "no trading" NOx Control Program by writing him at: Jeff Crawford, Bureau of Air Quality, DEP, 17 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0017.
* Get more information by calling Gabrielle Kissinger at 207-622-4380 x210, or emailing her at gkissinger@amcinfo.org.

6. STOP THE SPRAY ON DELAWARE BAY, N.J.:  Recently, Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) has resumed spraying glyphosate, a toxic herbicide, over 1,000 acres of marshland in Delaware Bay, as part of a wetland restoration project. The effort follows the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's directive that the utility company  restore wetlands as part of their permit renewal and in an attempt to mitigate the damage done to fish populations. Billions of fish die every year as a result of the utility's antiquated nuclear cooling system. Extermination of phragmites, which are invasive reeds that dominate the marshlands, would allow more desirable plants to flourish, creating a better habitat for fish. However, the spraying has had little impact on phragmites and instead has been shown to be hazardous to all other forms of life in the marsh, including humans. Rather than continuing to spray, PSE&G should purchase and conserve the horseshoe crab habitat and upland forested buffers to compensate for the failed restoration project.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

* Write to Dennis Hart asking him for an immediate end to the spraying and to instead ask PSE&G to purchase additional lands for protection of the shoreline. His address is: Dennis Hart, NJDEP, PO Box 029, Trenton, NJ 08625-0029
* Get more information by contacting Maya Van Rossum, Delaware Riverkeeper, at 215-369-1188 or at keeper@delawarekeeper.org.

7. HELP CREATE THE MEADOWLANDS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, N.J.: After years of  being seen as a wasteland, one of the largest wetlands in the metropolitan New York region is being considered as a National Wildlife Refuge. The creation of the National Wildlife Refuge would preserve 8,500 acres of a thriving environment for the 263 species of birds, 43 fish species, and thousands of diamondback terrapins (a species once on the verge of extinction). About 15 million people live within easy travel distance of the Meadowlands. Even as efforts to protect this area progress, threats continue. The Bergen County Executive supports yet another mega-mall in the Meadowlands, known as The Mills. This project will further fragment habitat, fill in more wetlands, compound traffic, and increase sprawl in the area.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

* Urge N.J. Senators Lautenberg and Torricelli to protect this critical environment in northern New Jersey as quickly as possible. Contact them by calling  the Capitol switchboard 202-224-3121 and ask to be transferred to your Senator. 
* Write to Bergen County Executive William "Pat" Schuber, Room 300 E, Court Plaza South, 21 Main St., Hackensack, NJ 07601 to oppose the Mills project. Executive Schuber's fax is 201-646-3101.

8. EXPANDING MASS. SKI AREA RAISES FORESTRY ISSUES: This month, the Department of Environmental Management Board had a tie vote on the proposed ski area expansion at Mount Wachusett. With a tie vote, Commissioner Peter Webber apparently has the authority to move the project forward. The ski area expansion became the subject of much controversy when it was discovered that the original expansion plan would go directly through the center of Massachusetts' largest old growth forest. Although the expansion has been re-directed into another area of the forest, critics maintain that there are many unanswered questions about the 20-acre forest just below the old growth that is slated to become an alpine park.