Arkansas is home to 32 threatened and endangered (T&E) species that need your help. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, recently introduced in the U.S. House would provide over 15 million dollars annually to support Arkansas's effort to save the Red-cockaded Woodpecker and the other 32 species from extinction. Take Action here: https://online.nwf.org/site/Advocacy…

Call to Action; 

Less then two days into the 115th Congress, the House of Representatives already is working to take away our public lands and dismantle historic conservation efforts.

Just yesterday, the House capped its first day with a vote to give away America’s public lands and waters, recalculating the costs of public lands transfers and easing current restrictions for shifting their oversight to individual states or private interests.

America’s public lands are under attack by a well-funded campaign that seeks to transfer most of them to state and private interests for disposal. The effort is being driven by radical groups such as the American Lands Council (ALC) and their allied lawmakers.

Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, has been leading this effort in Congress. He has assembled a “congressional team” of like minded lawmakers to “develop a legislative framework for transferring public lands to local ownership and control.” He also plans to advance legislation soon that would seize most public lands in Utah for private use.

As Americans, we share a rich natural heritage of spectacular public lands—parks, forests, wildlife refuges, national monuments, and other special places—that refresh and inspire us. These lands provide recreational opportunity, wildlife habitat, and educational resources. They supply vital water resources and generate well over $600 billion in sustainable economic growth.

We all own this uniquely American endowment thanks in large part, to the vision and stewardship ethic of great leaders like Theodore Roosevelt.

Please let your representatives in Congress know that you value America’s public lands and oppose any effort to surrender them to private interests. You can use
the Action Alert Congress Look Up tool on the right  to locate  all your congressman’s web form and tell them they should vigorously oppose these radical efforts to give away America’s natural heritage.  You can simply copy and paste the sample letter below into this Action Alert form.. 

“I do not intend that our natural resources should be exploited by the few against the interests of the many.” –Theodore Roosevelt

SAMPLE LETTER:

I  care deeply about our nation’s public lands and the role they play in providing all Americans with recreation and enhancing our quality of life. I am writing to urge you to vigorously oppose any legislation to transfer our nation’s public lands, which currently belong to all of us, to state and private interests.

Radical groups such as the American Lands Council and their allies in Congress are seeking a complete reversal of Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation vision and legacy. Their seizure effort would abandon the nation’s well-established and inherently conservative land conservation ethic. It would also squander a natural endowment—and more than a century’s worth of public investment—intended to benefit our children.

Their agenda includes land transfer legislation, such as Bishop’s yet to be introduced “Utah Public Lands Initiative” or Representative Mark Amodei’s (R-NV) HR 1484 that would cede “all right and title” of national public lands in Nevada to the state.

It also includes legislation in both the House and Senate to undermine the 1906 Antiquities Act, a bedrock conservation law that was written by a Republican, passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by Roosevelt, a Republican president. The Antiquities Act is responsible for protecting the Grand Canyon, California’s giant redwoods, the Tetons and many other American treasures, both natural and historic.

As Americans, we share a rich natural heritage of spectacular public lands—parks, forests, wildlife refuges, national monuments, and other special places. These protected lands provide recreational opportunity, wildlife habitat, and education. They refresh and inspire us. They also supply vital water resources and generate well over $600 billion in sustainable economic growth.

We all own this uniquely American endowment thanks largely to the vision and stewardship ethic of great conservative leaders like Theodore Roosevelt. It is worth pointing out that every Republican president since has followed in his footsteps and added to that land conservation legacy.

Please stand with Theodore Roosevelt and real conservatism. Oppose these radical efforts to give away and exploit our natural heritage. I’m counting on you to protect our nation’s endowment of public lands, and to ensure that these lands continue to belong to all Americans. Thank you for considering my views and please let me know where you stand on this matter.

Sincerely,

Join other Arkansas Wildlife Federation members in writing letters to the editor and asking  candidates for president, as well as candidates for federal/state office,  to endorse a statement of support for public lands. In so doing, these candidates would declare opposition to any large-scale sales or transfer of ownership or management of national public lands to state or local governments, or private interests. We must protect our access to these incredible landscapes and sporting opportunities. Stand with us. 

Continue the legacy of sportsmen protecting our wildlife and public lands. Take the pledge to protect public lands here: www.nwf.org/pledgeforpubliclands.

Letter to Editor (Template)

American sportsmen and women were the original force behind the creation and protection of our public lands, stepping up and fighting fiercely to protect the forests, mountain ranges and waters that provided habitat for the wildlife and fish they pursued and enjoyed. Thanks to past and ongoing efforts of sportsmen and other conservationists, all Americans benefit from this national heritage. Our public lands are the beloved landscapes where our grandfathers taught us how to fly fish at a hidden spot along a cold mountain stream; where we learned how to track white-tailed deer across densely wooded forests; and where we sit quietly with our dogs and watch raucous flocks of geese rush across the fading skies. But our public lands are under attack from a minority of legislators and private interests who seek to carve up our outdoor legacy and transfer these lands to state and private ownership. The loss of these public lands would lead to the disappearance of places valued by the overwhelming majority of Americans and likely limit or close access to long-enjoyed hunting and fishing areas.

The Arkansas Wildlife Federation, a diverse organization representing sportsmen and women and other recreationists, is asking members of the public and as candidates for federal and state office to sign a statement of principles, www.nwf.org/pledgeforpubliclands, in support of keeping national public lands in public hands. As sportsmen and women, as the historical protectors and advocates of public lands, we must pledge to protect our cherished American birthright.

YOUR NAME

YOUR ORG & TITLE, IF APPLICABLE

YOUR HOMETOWN

Tips for submitting a letter to the editor (LTE):

Submit your letter to one newspaper at a time.   Make it original and localized. If there is a National Wildlife Refuge, National Forest, or Park near your town paper, mention it by name.  Editors like local news.   

Keep your letter under 250 words (website of paper you’re submitting to may give their specific limit)

Give your full contact information as they will probably follow up to confirm you are in fact are the author.

Localize as much as you can by mentioning a local story, special place, loved one who benefits etc.

Here's a link to info about submitting op-eds and LTEs to about 90 papers. If the one you want isn't included, check the paper's website. http://ccmc.org/tips/write-and-be-counted-op-eds-and-letters/