This is your last chance! Two very important comment deadlines are fast approaching, and the fate of the air in our National Forests as well as the air we breathe may hang in the balance. September 10 is the final day that the US Forest Service will accept comments on the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which if implemented in its current form would protect nearly 60 million acres of wild, roadless forests nationwide. September 18 is the comment deadline for the Clean Air in our National Parks Rule (a.k.a. BART Rule - Best Available Retrofit Technology) which would help clean up the air in our national parks and wilderness areas, improve visibility, and reduce acid rain. Please act today. This is the your chance to have your official comments recognized on issues that will have a long- term effect on our national environment.

Protect our wild forests- comments due by September 10: http://ga0.org/ct/d7asSR41uqDs/Roadless

Help clean up our air - comments due by September 18: http://ga0.org/ct/d1asSR41uqD2/Clean-Air

2. FOREST LEGACY FUNDING ENTERS FINAL STAGE

How much of the Northern Forest and the Central Appalachian Highlands should be protected? That question will be answered this month as Congress decides on funding for the popular Forest Legacy Program. Forest Legacy allows states to identify key forest landscapes and properties that deserve protection, and secure funding from Congress to make that protection a reality through purchase or conservation easement. This year the demand for funding is intense, so your senators and representatives need to hear your support for the places you care about. Places like the Newark Watershed Lands in the New Jersey Highlands and the Connecticut River Headwaters lands recently put up for sale in northern New Hampshire are perfect examples.

Tell your federal elected officials that you care about protecting forests and open space near you: http://ga0.org/ct/ddasSR41uqDw/Forest-Legacy

Check out the September issue of AMC Outdoors Magazine for important postcards you can send to President Bush urging him to make the Northern Forest a national conservation priority.

As Congress prepares to reauthorize the Farm Bill, conservationists and members of Congress are working to increase the share of funding allocated to promote conservation measures for farmland, forests, water and wildlife. Reps. Kind (D-WI) and Gilchrest (R-MD) are developing legislation to significantly increase funding to programs that provide assistance to private landowners in conserving farmland and forests. The Farm Bill has traditionally provided billions of dollars each year for farm subsidies ($32 billion in 2000) to large Midwestern farms while neglecting smaller-scale farm and woodlot owners. The Working Lands Stewardship Act hopes to make responsible stewardship a higher priority in the Farm Bill and deliver much-needed funding for forest protection.

Please urge your member of Congress to cosponsor the Working Lands Stewardship Act (H.R. 2375) and to include funding to protect lands of regional and national significance like the Northern Forest and Highlands: (http://ga0.org/ct/epasSR41uqDN/Farm-Bill).

Speaking of deadlines, time is running out to register for AMC's Conservation Leadership Training at Bear Mountain State Park, NY on September 22. In this day long workshop you can learn how to protect the places you care about. Join members of AMC's Conservation Department and find out how to communicate effectively on conservation issues, develop strategies and tips for recruiting others to your effort, and use the AMC's resources to help you. You will also learn more about protecting the Mid-Atlantic Highlands region and urban conservation.

For more information or to register, contact Bryan Wentzell at (617) 523-0655, ext. 386, email bwentzell@amcinfo.org, or go to http://ga0.org/ct/cdasSR41uqDe/amc-conservation.

Decades of fighting to clean up tons of toxic PCB's (polychlorinated biphenyls) in the Hudson River in New York have ended. In late July, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman announced plans to move forward with the removal of more than 100,000 pounds of PCB's from toxic hot spots in the river. Some 1.1 million pounds of PCB's were dumped into the river by General Electric Corporation, which had been legally dumping for 35 years prior to a ban on the chemical in 1977. PCBs have been linked to cancer in humans and are known to accumulate in ecosystems, leading to the contamination of fish species, including those traditionally eaten by humans.

Maybe you've thought about how industry contributes to climate change and air pollution, but what about your contribution? A new web site offers you the opportunity to do a little air quality check on yourself to estimate how much air pollution you produce. Although it does not try to pour on the guilt, it does show how much pollution each of us produces compared to the national average. Most importantly, it will tell you how you can best reduce your own fossil fuel emissions based on your largest emission sources. It's easy, just go to http://ga0.org/ct/c1asSR41uqD3/airhead and click on the "Emission Calculator."