WVEC Action AlertFebruary 1, 2007Tell WV State Senators to OPPOSE SCR 29 We just learned that a controversial anti-wilderness resolution (SCR 29) has been introduced in the West Virginia State Senate. This resolution is filled with bogus information about wilderness and would oppose wilderness protection for special areas in the Monongahela National Forest. This is the exact same resolution that was defeated in 2005 and 2006 and now they are at it again! ACTION NEEDED NOW! Email your Senator right away, and follow up with a phone call ASAP to Urge Him/Her to OPPOSE SCR 29!!! Ask your friends to do the same. This resolution could be taken up in the Senate Natural Resources Committee as early as Monday February 5th so your Senator needs to hear from you right away. If your Senator is on the Natural Resources Committee (see below), it is even more important that you contact them right away! Please send an email ASAP and follow up with a phone call. See list below for contact information. Go to this website to find out who your senator is and look up his/her phone number. After you’ve called/emailed your senator, please call Natural Resources Committee Chair John Fanning at (304) 357-7867 and tell him to oppose SCR 29! This resolution is filled with false information. It’s a bad deal for West Virginia, and for wilderness.
After you’ve called/emailed your senator, please call Natural Resources Committee Chair John Fanning at (304) 357-7867 and tell him to oppose SCR 29! This resolution is filled with false information. It’s a bad deal for West Virginia, and for wilderness. SCR 29 flies in the face of the majority of West Virginians who want to keep our last remaining wild country “Wild and Wonderful,” and is filled with blatant inaccuracies about wilderness. Let your senator know that wilderness is simply a way to keep well-loved wild places in the Monongahela National Forest just the way they are, and that SCR 29 would unfairly restrict our ability to conserve West Virginia’s spectacular wild country. Telling them to oppose the resolution is most important but in addition, you can let your senator know that:
Please make email contact TODAY, follow up with a phone call this week, and ask others in your community to do the same. Resolutions can move very fast, so we need your help now! If you want to do more to help keep the Mon wild, please contact Jason Keeling with the West Virginia Wilderness Coalition at jason.keeling@wvwild.org Thank you! BACKGROUND – KEEPING WEST VIRGINIA WILD & WONDERFUL Wilderness designation is an important tool for keeping West Virginia’s well-loved natural areas just the way they are. In the face of increasing development in West Virginia, we shouldn’t be limiting our options for protecting our outstanding wild country in the Monongahela National Forest. Wilderness areas on our federal lands provide unparalleled primitive and traditional outdoor recreation opportunities, such as hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, horseback riding, bird watching, whitewater rafting, kayaking, skiing, snowshoeing, and much more. Additionally, protection of our wild areas makes good, plain economic sense. Protecting wild areas on our national forests helps diversify economies by attracting and retaining new businesses, residents, and a local workforce, in addition to generating tourism revenue. According to a new study released this month by researchers at West Virginia University, the tourism and travel industry's role in West Virginia's economy has grown steadily in recent years while the roles of mining and other traditional industries have declined. The Outdoor Industry Foundation estimates nearly 1.4 million West Virginia residents participate in wilderness-related activities each year – that’s more than 77% of the state’s population. West Virginia’s wild and wonderful outdoor areas, including wilderness, are recognized as a recreational hub for the entire mid-Atlantic region, and an additional 25,000,000 people from states surrounding West Virginia also participate in these activities. SCR 29 MAKES BOGUS ANTI-WILDERNESS CLAIMS Among the resolutions’ outlandish claims against wilderness protection, they state that “wilderness would diminish the biological diversity of the Monongahela National Forests wildlife habitat types” and wilderness would “deprive West Virginians and the nonresident visiting public of nearly all economically productive uses and reasonable access to recreational opportunities in the Monongahela National Forest.” They've gotta be kidding!
Read. SCR 29: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Text_HTML/2007_SESSIONS/rs/BILLS/scr29%20intr.htm Limiting our ability to conserve our wild areas in the Monongahela National Forest by opposing future wilderness designation simply does not make sense. Please call your senators today and urge them to oppose SCR 29, and keep our options open so that we have an opportunity to keep our Wild and Wonderful West Virginia wild country just the way it is. Thank You! |
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