1.URGE YOUR SENATORS TO SIGN THE CARA SUPPORT LETTER  The Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA) will bring nearly $3 billion for conservation programs nationwide, but only if the bill is voted on in the Senate. With only 15 working days in the Senate in September, your Senators need to hear from you in order to ensure that CARA comes up for a vote. They can do this by signing onto a "Dear Colleague" letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and Minority Leader Thomas Daschle. This letter, initiated by Senators Mike DeWine (R-OH) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA), encourages Senate leadership to schedule CARA for consideration by the full Senate in September.

*Urge your senators to sign the DeWine/Landrieu letter to pass CARA in September, by calling the Capitol switchboard at 1-888-534-6226.

2. FOREST LEGACY COULD HELP PURCHASE KEY PARCELS  Within CARA, the Forest Legacy program funds easements that keep land in private ownership, allowing the landowner to continue to harvest the forest but protecting the land from development and fragmentation. If adequately funded, Forest Legacy could play a key role in the protection of lands for sale in local communities. For example, certain lands in Maine have immense recreational and ecological value and are up for sale, including 35,000 acres in the Tumbledown Range and 656,000 acres along the West Branch of the Penobscott River. Also, through the Forest Legacy program, a $2 million grant has been made available for the purchase of 1,000 acres of private forestland bordering Sterling Forest State Park in New York. There is also an effort to protect the Taconic Ridge in the Berkshires through Forest Legacy, which would provide critical wildlife corridors and the opportunity to enhance the trail system. If funding from the Forest Legacy program does not come through for Fiscal Year 2001, these opportunitie may be jeopardized.

Call your senators at the Capitol switchboard at 1-888-534-6226 and urge them to fund Forest Legacy at $60 million.

3. REGISTER TO VOTE  The most important way you can make positive changes for our nation’s environment is to make sure that you vote. If you have moved since the last election, you must register at your new address, or if you are not going to be at home on Election Day (Nov. 7), now is the time to apply for an absentee ballot. Learn about the voting records and environmental positions of candidates, including senators, representatives, governors, state legislators and local officials. These men and women will be in the position of making critical decisions about the air and water quality, land preservation, and sprawl.

Call your local town hall and ask for the Board of Elections or town clerk to update your records or find out your polling location.

4. THE HAZARDS OF NITROGEN OXIDE (NOx) IN MAINE DETAILED  NOx pollution significantly contributes to every major air pollution problem facing Maine, including smog, soot, acid rain, haze and visibility impairment, water quality deterioration, and climate change. In fact, the NOx emissions from Wyman Station are heavily impacting the greater Portland area and all areas downeast, as far away as Acadia National Park. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) solicited public comment in August on the NOx Control Program. Maine residents sent more than 1,000 postcards to the DEP urging the adoption of the NOx Control Program and the support of the Board of Environmental Protection's draft rule that would prevent Wyman Station from selling pollution credits to other utilities in the Midwest and Southern states.

Contact Gabrielle Kissinger, Maine Conservation Project Director, at gkissinger@amcinfo.org for more information.

5. THE COMMUNITY PRESERVATION ACT HITS A SNAG  The Community Preservation Act, which would have offered Massachusetts communities a way to raise money for open space, affordable housing, and preservation of historic landmarks, was only waiting for Governor Paul Cellucci’s signature. After 13 years of effort to get the bill through the legislature, the Governor sent the bill back so as to reconfigure the land transaction fee of $20. He would like that fee to be reduced in order to relieve first-time homebuyers of added cost and anxiety. Since the legislative session has ended, the bill will be considered in an informal session. This means that one member of the House or Senate can block it. This doesn’t bode well for the bill to get signed into law this year.

Write to Governor Celucci and express your disappointment with his decision. Let him know that the Community Preservation Act is an important piece of legislation that will help Massachusetts communities make meaningful decisions about the fate of their landscape. Write to: Governor A. Paul Cellucci, The State House, Room 360, Boston, MA 02133.

6. N.J. BEACH CLEAN-UP GETS NEW DATE – OCT. 28  New Jersey will take part in the International Coastal Clean-up this year on Oct. 28 instead of Sept. 16. The Clean Ocean Action (COA) in New Jersey changed the date to make it easier for schools to participate in the clean-up. This year’s beach clean-up event will be held on Saturday, Oct. 28, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

*Get more information by writing Anthony A. Totah, Marine Biologist, Clean Ocean Action, P.O. Box 1098, Wildwood, NJ 08260. Or email him: AATotah@aol.com Or, visit the Web: http://www.cleanoceanaction.org/

8. CELEBRATE THE BRONX RIVER SET FOR OCT. 14  Join the Bronx River communities in their celebration and continued restoration of the Bronx River in New York. Here's a rare opportunity to join other paddlers or to cheer from the shore as communities along the Bronx River welcome the journey of the Gold Ball from the 219th Street in the Bronx to Starlight Park.

The journey will pass through the New York Botanical Gardens and the Bronx Zoo. The event begins at 219th Street at 9 a.m. In addition to paddling and local walks, there will be restoration projects and clean-up projects along the river.

*Check the listings under Canoe/Kayak trip and Walks & Outings trip in the NY-NoJ Chapter events section of AMC Outdoors.