| Time is running out for one of the most important
conservation bills in years. The Senate has just four weeks to act on
the historic Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA) that fully funds
the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), creates parks and open
space, and protects wildlife.
Contact your Senators today
to urge passage of S. 2123, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act
(CARA), before Congress adjourns. Overwhelmingly passed by the House
of Representatives in a solid, bipartisan 315 to 102 vote, and more
recently, marked up by a bipartisan majority in the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources, CARA must next show its resolve through the full
Senate.
Using offshore oil and gas drilling revenues, the bill creates
permanent appropriations for nearly $3 billion annually for an array
of resource conservation and recreation programs, including a
reinvigoration of the $900 million Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Federal, state and local land managers use LWCF to buy land to
preserve wilderness, create parks, and protect trails. CARA splits
LWCF funding evenly among federal land acquisition and stateside
assistance programs.
The Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA) represents the primary
conservation legacy the 106th Congress can give to the American
people. In recent nationwide surveys, American voters expressed clear
and unequivocal support for funding land, water, wildlife and natural
resource conservation.
Fully 80% of voters across the country favor "setting up a
permanent land and water conservation trust fund, with the money
coming in from offshore oil and gas drilling revenues." For more
information about CARA and LWCF, visit http://www.ahrinfo.org/.
See also NY Times editorial, September 13, 2000.
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/13/opinion/13WED2.html
Times links only work for a few days.
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