Calling all treehuggers!

This action is one part action, one part scavenger hunt.

We are still working hard to stop the Governor’s proposal to use commercial timbering in state parks as a solution to pay for their maintenance.

This is a fundamentally bad idea. We are not disputing the fact that our state parks need additional funding for their maintenance and to address a back-log of improvements. Opening them up to commercial timbering and removing as much as 50 % of the marketable timber per marked acre directly decreases the value of the parks themselves. This is the sort of last resort financial solution that I’d compare to selling a kidney. It’s not sustainable. And we are sending a message to agency representatives that we don’t support logging in our state parks whatsoever. We need your help to send the message.

SB 270 will be heard in the Senate Natural Resources committee as early as Monday January 29, 2018. We are asking our friends to hug a tree by writing a postcard, make a phone call, and send an email to each of the Senators on that committee.

We want to make this easy for you! Here’s their contact info:

Senator Maynard – Chair R-Wayne (304) 357-7808 Rm 206W
Senator Mann – Vice-Chair R-Monroe (304) 357-7849 Rm 417M
Senator Beach D- Monongalia (304) 357-7919 Rm 204W
Senator Cline R-Wyoming (304) 357-7807 Rm 216W
Senator Facemire D-Braxton (304) 357-7845 Rm 213W
Senator Karnes R- Upshire (304) 357-7906 Rm 417M
Senator Prezioso D-Marion (304) 357-7961 Rm 245M
Senator Rucker R- Jefferson (304) 357-7957 Rm 223W
Senator Smith R-Tucker (304) 357-7995 Rm 214W
Senator Stollings D-Boone (304) 357-7939 Rm 209W
Senator Sypolt R-Preston (304) 357-7914 Rm 214W
Senator Takubo R-Kanawha (304) 357-7990 Rm 439M
Senator Woelfel D-Cabell (304) 357-7956 Rm 203W

 When you address your post cards, use this format:

Rm #, Building 1
State Capitol Complex
Charleston, WV 25305

And here are their email addresses in an easy to copy and paste format:

Mark.Maynard@wvsenate.gov
kenny.mann@wvsenate.gov
bob.beach@wvsenate.gov
sue.cline@wvsenate.gov
douglas.facemire@wvsenate.gov
robert.karnes@wvsenate.gov
roman.prezioso@wvsenate.gov
patricia.rucker@wvsenate.gov
randy.smith@wvsenate.gov
ron.stollings@wvsenate.gov
dave.sypolt@wvsenate.gov
tom.takubo@wvsenate.gov
mike.woelfel@wvsenate.gov

Here’s where the scavenger hunt comes in…

When you write your postcard, it would be excellent if you sent your opposition on a post card from one of our own state parks. You might already have some collected, or you might use this as an opportunity to visit your local state park! Once you write your opposition (or thank Senate Democrats for taking a united stand against this bill) snap a photo of your postcard haul and leave it in the comments section of this alert for a chance to win a t-shirt from WVEC.

Will you or your group participate in this effort to prevent logging in our state parks?

We strongly encourage our member groups and supporting organization to host a simple post-card writing party.

It’s simple, gather some of your friends and spend an hour writing post-cards to Senate republicans and your representatives urging them to protect your valued state parks. If your group decides to host a post-card writing party this week, let me know (keenamullins@wvecouncil.org) and we will share your event in our networks. Find below info about an event like this organized by Kanawha Valley Trail Runners:

Let’s see how many voices we can get to the Capitol by Monday.