1. Tell the EPA to Clean Up Off-road Vehicle Emissions
2. Thank Congress for Their Conservation Support
3. Farming for Forest Funding: Farm Bill Update

Regional Headlines

1. Connecticut's Big Deal: Protecting 15,000 Acres
2. Keeping Maine's Allagash River Wild
3. Fall Brings Four New Trails to the Northeast

NATIONAL HEADLINES

1. Tell the EPA to Clean Up Off-road Vehicle Emissions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently issued a proposal to reduce air pollution from snowmobiles, dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Powered by inefficient two-stroke engines, these machines are a major source of air pollution on many public lands nationwide. Unfortunately this proposal sets weak standards and will not substantially reduce air and noise pollution from these machines unless strengthened significantly. To make matters worse, during recent public hearings in Washington and Denver, the off-road industry presented a united front opposing the proposal as too stringent, and made it clear it would submit "many, many comments" against it.

TAKE ACTION Contact the EPA today to urge the agency to do more to reduce harmful air and noise pollution from off-road vehicles: http://ga0.org/campaign/ORV_Pollution

2. Thank Congress for Their Conservation Support

Last month you heard that Congress had recently helped bring conservation funding to the forests, mountains, and streams of the Appalachian region. Programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund and Forest Legacy received critically-needed funds that will go toward protecting threatened places in the Central Appalachian Highlands and Northern Forest. Places that received funding include the Newark watershed in New Jersey, the Adirondack Lakes in New York, the Connecticut River headwaters in New Hampshire, and the West Branch of the Penobscot River in Maine. Conserving these places means they will always be available for wildlife, watershed protection, and quiet recreation. Thanking our members of Congress lets them know that all of their work was worth the effort. Take a moment to send your thanks. If you happen to live in ME, NH, NJ, or NY click below to send a letter specific to your state.

TAKE ACTION Take a minute to thank your members of Congress for their support and hard work. It is important that we let them know how much we appreciate their conservation efforts: http://ga0.org/campaign/Conservation_Thanks (All states, except those below) http://ga0.org/campaign/Conservation_Thanks_ME (Maine)
http://ga0.org/campaign/Conservation_Thanks_NH (New Hampshire)
http://ga0.org/campaign/Conservation_Thanks_NJ2 (New Jersey)
http://ga0.org/campaign/Conservation_Thanks_NY (New York)

3. Farming for Forest Funding: Farm Bill Update

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. 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, especially in the East. Although such efforts were narrowly defeated in the House, the Senate is moving forward with a Farm Bill that does provide the much-needed funding for forestland conservation. Your words of support are needed to help ensure conservation programs for of our forests and farms are a key part of the final bill.

TAKE ACTION Be a voice for conservation for small farms and forests: http://ga0.org/campaign/Farm_Bill_3

REGIONAL HEADLINES

1. Connecticut's Big Deal: Protecting 15,300 Acres

The single largest land conservation deal in Connecticut's history was concluded in early November when the state and a land trust together purchased 15,300 acres of a water utility's land to preserve it in its pristine state. Officials from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Kelda Group, and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) agreed upon a purchase price of $90 million. The DEP and TNC will manage the lands jointly to protect water quality and habitat. The lands include extensive, intact forest with habitat for migratory songbirds and wide-ranging mammals such as bear, bobcat and fisher. The question of which recreational activities will be allowed on the land has yet to be decided. Much of these lands are a part of the greater Central Appalachian Highlands, which stretch from Pennsylvania to Connecticut. For more information about Highlands conservation contact AMC's Tom Gilbert at tgilbert@igc.org or (609) 818-1776.

2. Keeping Maine's Allagash River Wild

The Allagash Wilderness Waterway in northern Maine has long been a premier destination for those seeking a remote river adventure, but that remote quality is in severe danger of slipping away. Once only accessible in a few places, the river now has 14 vehicle access points all along the Wilderness Waterway. Where there was intended to be an historic type timber dam, now sits a concrete dam with a vehicle access point. As a "wild" river under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the Allagash is meant to be "generally inaccessible except by trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive." However, the State of Maine, which has managed the river since its designation in 1970, has increased vehicular access points and eroded the once-remote nature of the river. The National Park Service is currently reviewing the State of Maine's management of this river.

To keep in touch with this issue and learn more about what you can do to protect the special qualities of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, contact AMC's Bryan Wentzell at bwentzell@amcinfo.org or (617) 523-0655, ext. 386.

3. Fall Brings Four New Trails to the Northeast You'll have four new trails to get out on this year thanks to the hard work of dedicated local volunteers, volunteer organizations and assistance from the National Park Service's Rivers and Trails Program. In Maine, organizations including AMC have made the first mile of the Kennebec River Rail Trail a reality. This trail will run along the Kennebec River, spanning 6.5 miles and connecting four towns, including the capital, Augusta. Also in Maine a new 2.5-mile trail system winds among the vegetable fields and woods of 160-acre Crystal Spring Farm in Brunswick, Maine. In western Massachusetts the first 4.5 miles of a bike path, the Ashuwillticook Trail, opened with a community celebration in Cheshire. Finally, in Washington, DC, a groundbreaking ceremony for a segment of the Metropolitan Branch Trail celebrated the beginning of the trail's construction in this area adjacent to Union Station on Capitol Hill. Thousands of people who work in the Union Station area will use and enjoy this piece of the trail, which will include bike lanes and a wide, landscaped sidewalk.

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