1. CARA STILL HAS A FIGHTING CHANCE!  This week, Congress is voting on a strong Interior Appropriations Bill. While many conservation programs have received an increase in funding over last year and bad environmental riders have been removed, appropriators are including a funding package that is intended to be a substitute for the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA). What's missing from this package is the reliability and far reach of the popular CARA legislation. Despite this, renewed hope for passage of CARA has come in the form of a letter from Senate leadership voicing their commitment to passing the monumental legislation this year. This fight isn't over until it's over, and as long as Congress is in town (most likely until October 20th), we will continue to fight for CARA. Your voice can still make a difference. If you speak out, you will be joining citizens from across the country, all 50 governors, 1,100 mayors, and over 5,000 organizations that are committed to keeping the pressure on Congress. If enacted, CARA will bring $3 billion annually for conservation needs for15 years. Encourage members of Congress and the President to do the right thing!

*Call the White House comment line at 202-456-1111 (press 0) and urge the Clinton administration to do everything it can to pass CARA this year.

*Call your senators at the Capitol Switchboard at 1-888-534-6226 and ask them to do everything they can to make sure there is a vote for CARA this year.

2. SEND IN POSTCARDS  Thanks to everyone who sent postcards from the September issue of AMC Outdoors to their Senators in support of CARA and to the AMC to join the Conservation Action Network. It's still not too late. Sign up to receive AMC's monthly conservation newsletter or to join AMC's activists who write or call politicians, write letters to the editor, work with their local AMC Chapter Conservation Committee, or attend activist training sessions.

3.WEST BRANCH PROJECT IN MAINE NEEDS FUNDING  The West Branch project, if completed, would put 656,000 acres of forestland under conservation easement. The area comprises the northeastern Moosehead Lake shoreline, Big Spencer Mountain, the headwaters of the St. John River, and the West and North Branches of the Penobscot River. Funding for the West Branch project will come in large part from the Forest Legacy program and the Land and Water Conservation Fund, both of which are included in the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA). Forest Legacy already contributed $2 million from this year's funds to get the West Branch deal started. This project illustrates why passage of CARA is so critical for protecting special places in our region. Phase II will require an estimated $40-$50 million. Forest Legacy, could fund $30 million of that if this program receives $60 million in FY2001.

Call your senators at the Capitol switchboard at 1-888-534-6226 and urge them to fund Forest Legacy at $60 million in FY 2001.

4. COMMUNITY PRESERVATION ACT SIGNED IN MASSACHUSETTS  At first, Massachusetts Governor Cellucci refused to sign this landmark legislation, unless legislators could negotiate the real estate fees. For 15 years, advocates have been working on this bill that would allow communities to raise a small tax in order to preserve open space, increase affordable housing and promote historical preservation. Due to pressure from the Governor, lawmakers agreed to reduce the surcharge from $20 to $10, and municipal lien fees will rise from $4 to $14. With these changes, Governor Cellucci finally signed the act.

5. NEWARK WATERSHED LANDS NEED PROTECTION IN NEW JERSEY  For decades, the City of Newark has owned tens of thousands of acres of pristine forest in Passaic and Sussex Counties, New Jersey. Frequently, Newark proposes to sell portions of these lands to generate revenue. The latest threat to the Newark watershed lands, is a proposal in which the City signed a 30-year lease with a rock concert promoter. This would pave the way for a 30,000-person capacity amphitheater on 400 acres of City-owned watershed land in West Milford Township, in the heart of the NJ Highlands. In the 1980's the NJ State Legislature imposed a moratorium on developing watershed lands, while the State formulated a comprehensive, long-term preservation plan. The plan was never completed, and the moratorium remains in effect to this day.

It is time to permanently preserve the Newark watershed lands, as well as the other critical lands in the Highlands that provide drinking water to over half of New Jersey's residents. To do so will require a greater focus on the Highlands by Governor Christine Todd Whitman's open space campaign, as well as defending the legal protections currently in place.  

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Contact Governor Whitman, and urge her to enforce the watershed development moratorium, and to permanently preserve the Newark Watershed lands. You can voice your concerns online at http://www.state.nj.us/governor/contact.htm, by telephone at (609) 292-6000, or by mail to The Office of the Governor, PO Box 001,Trenton NJ 08625.

6. STAND UP FOR THE MEADOWLANDS IN NEW JERSEY  The US Army Corps of Engineers is taking comments on a proposed development in the Meadowlands, which will destroy 206 acres of coastal wetlands in order to build a shopping mall (the Meadowlands Mills project). How this matter is dealt with will set precedents for how the federal government handles recovering ecosystems nationwide. The Mills Corporation is attempting to rewrite wetlands regulations by appealing to the alleged 'non-functionality' of the wetlands they want to destroy. This is a dangerous precedent. The comment period has been extended until Oct 11, 2000. Act now to keep the Federal Government from destroying these wetlands.

*Submit written comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement no later than Oct 11 To: Col. William H. Pearce, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / NY District, Jacob K. Javits Federal Bldg. - Room 1937 New York, NY 10278-0090, Re: Public Notice # 95-07440-RS

*For more information visit www.meadowlandspartnership.org.