PRIORITY ANNOUNCEMENT
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PLEASE READ THIS INFORMATION AND ACT ON IT NOW
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On June 11, North Carolina U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr and U.S. Rep. Walter Jones introduced legislation
into the Senate and the House of Representatives that would set aside an amendment to current resource management
(consent decree) and require that the Park Service operate the seashore under its duly authorized resource management
plan (interim plan). Upon reading the letter provided below, it should be obvious that the importance of these bills extends
well beyond the current issue regarding Cape Hatteras. This is no longer simply the classic debate over protection of
resources versus human use and development. This is a debate regarding who is in charge of managing resources, the
government in compliance with congressional acts or environmental groups with one goal, maximizing resource protection
without regard to the costs of their proposals. The courts have been supporting the latter.
At this point, the bills have been referred to the appropriate committees. This is where most bills die. If we want these
bills to get to the floor, we need to give our representatives a reason to co-sponsor the bills. If you don’t do something
now, this type of action on the part of the courts and environmental groups will likely impact you in the very near future.
Take a stand. Print these instructions and take the 30 minutes needed to send the emails. Better yet, if you want to have
the biggest impact, fax the letters and follow up via phone. Please, at least write your Senators and House
Representative—steps 1 through 11.
Don’t forget PASS THIS ONTO EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK.
THIS IS NOT JUST A CAPE HATTERAS ISSUE.
If after you are done you would like to follow the progress of the bills, bookmark the following links:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bill.xc?billnum=S.3113&congress=110#activity
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bill.xc?billnum=H.R.6233&congress=110#activity
INSTRUCTIONS
Go to http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
Type your zip code, you will get a list with 2 senators and 1 house representative
Click on the first senator in the list.
Fill out the form (use National Parks, Natural Resources, or Judiciary for the topic) and Senate Bill 3133 for the
subject.
Copy the letter presented below to the message area.
Edit the letter filling in your information and deleting HR 6233.
Hit the back button until you get back to the list of representatives.
Click on the second senator and repeat steps 4 through 7.
Click on the house representative (3rd person in the list).
Fill out the form (use National Parks, Natural Resources, or Judiciary for the topic) and HR 6233 for the subject.
Copy and edit the letter filling in your information and deleting Senate Bill 3133.
Go to http://www.rahall.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=521&Itemid=162 .
Repeat steps 10 & 11, except there is no topic field.
Add the following: Please forward my request to the entire committee.
Go to http://judiciary.house.gov/contact.aspx .
Repeat steps 10 & 11, except there is no topic or subject field—type your own subject line.
Goto http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home .
Repeat steps 4 through 6, except there is no topic field.
LETTER
My name is (Your Name). I am a voting member of (Your state or district). I am writing to ask you to co-sponsor
HR 6233/Senate Bill 3133. As described below, my request is based upon the opinion that environmental
groups, with the assistance of the courts, are usurping governmental authority for resource management on
federal lands. More often than not the management techniques that result ignore the cost benefit analysis
required by NEPA and other Congressional Acts.
On April 30, the United States district court for the eastern district of North Carolina, northern division accepted
a consent decree that resulted in the voluntary dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Defenders of Wildlife and
Audubon against CHNSRA. The consent decree (signed under the threat that all public access would be
denied) amended a duly authorized resource management plan (Interim Plan). The amendment eliminated ALL
discretion on the part of NPS and has severely limited public access to park. As a result, the decree is not only
having a severe economic impact on Dare County and NC, but also, has the effect of delegating managerial
functions of NPS to the court and private environmental groups. This is an unconstitutional delegation of federal
authority.
The impact of the decision to accept the consent degree is not limited to CHNSRA or NC. In fact, each time the
courts overturn management decisions made by governmental units, the courts embolden environmental
groups. For example, the following comment from the Center for Biological Diversity clearly shows the Center's
total disregard for the government’s role in management of federal lands and their confidence in being able 1)
to dictate to NPS and USFWS, and 2) to ignore Congressional Acts regarding appropriate rulemaking
procedures.
"To remind the Service of the true definition of ‘essential habitat,’ in 2007 the Center filed a notice of intent to
sue the agency over that decision (Piping Plover Habitat) and 54 others that have driven imperiled species
across the country closer to extinction."
(http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/piping_plover/index.html)
Co-sponsoring the above-noted bill will send a clear message that management of federal lands is the sole
discretion of the federal agency in charge and must be done in accordance with Congressional Acts. Anything
less, is equivalent to abdicating governmental responsibility for federal land management, to ignoring
Congressional Acts, and to encouraging massive expenditures of government funds on legal fees.
Please take a stand and co-sponsor this bill.
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