A big thank you goes out to each of you who submitted comments to the Forest Service on the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Nearly 1,000 individuals sent in official comments through AMC's web site! The rule would protect nearly 60 million acres of roadless areas in our national forests from further logging, mining, and drilling. The rule was scheduled to go into effect last March, but was put on hold in January by the Bush Administration. As of yet there is no timeline as to when the Forest Service will decide whether to implement the rule unchanged, amend it, or not implement it at all. Stay tuned, and we will pass along information as we learn more.

You now have until October 2 to comment on the rule that would clean up the air in our parks and Wilderness areas. Join nearly 700 people who have commented so far through AMC's web site on the Clean Air in our National Parks Rule, also known as the BART Rule ("Best Available Retrofit Technology.") If enacted as written this rule will help improve air quality in our national parks and Wilderness areas, improve visibility, and reduce premature deaths from poor air quality. This would mainly be accomplished through cleaning up older and more polluting power plants that are significant contributors to air pollution.

TAKE ACTION

Act now before October 2 to clean up the air in our National Parks and Wilderness areas at http://ga0.org/ct/61asSR41uqDJ/clean_air.

The Bush Administration has pitched in its support for more funding for conservation and less for large farm subsidies in the new Farm Bill. This is a recent and welcome development for members of Congress and conservationists who are working to increase the share of funding for conservation measures for farmland, forests, water and wildlife. 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 farmers and woodlot owners.

The Boehlert-Kind-Gilchrest Amendment to the Farm Bill will divert a portion of these subsidies into conservation funding without raising the overall cost of the bill. We brought this issue to you last month, and are heartened by the administration's support for farm and forest conservation. You can continue the upwelling of support for making responsible stewardship a higher priority in the Farm Bill by taking action below.

Please urge your member of Congress to co-sponsor the Boehlert-Kind-Gilchrest Amendment and to include funding to protect lands of regional and national significance like the Northern Forest and Highlands: http://ga0.org/ct/bdasSR41uqDG/Farm_Bill.

Be a voice for conservation in the biggest land deal in New Hampshire in almost a century! Late this summer International Paper, Inc (IP) put 171,000 acres of New Hampshire's Connecticut River Headwaters Region (3% of the state's land base) on the market. As elected officials, local leaders, and conservation groups try to figure out how to best protect these lands, your voice is critical in ensuring that these and other Northern Forest lands are a national priority.

Contact your elected officials urging them to protect the northern New Hampshire lands and other wild places in the Northern Forest: http://ga0.org/ct/bpasSR41uqD-/Northern_Forest

There are two great ways for you to get out and learn more about some of the ecological gems of the Central Appalachian Highlands Region of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. First, attend AMC's Fall Gathering in the heart of this rolling landscape on October 19-21 in the Hudson Highlands of New York. The gathering will include local outings, talks, and meeting of AMC volunteers and staff. Find out more at http://ga0.org/ct/6dasSR41uqDD/gathering. If you can't make it to the Fall Gathering, head out on your own to explore the beautiful "critical treasures" of the region. Find out more about these places and how they are being threatened by sprawl and industrial development at http://www.highlandscoalition.org/.