EcoUprising: June 2017

Since January, 28 pieces of legislation were introduced in Congress taking aim at the bill – several focused on making amendments to the act itself. Senator Barrasso is expected to introduce another bill this month to gut the act.

EMAIL: Contact forms for Senators HERE, for your representatives HERE. Write, in your own words, why you want the Endangered Species Act to remain intact or copy and paste the following:

I am concerned by the 28 bills introduced in Congress this session which would weaken or repeal the Endangered Species Act. This law has saved countless species from extinction, including our national bird, the bald eagle. Further, it has a proven track record and process that should not be circumvented or short-circuited. We are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction and need to preserve the best tool available to us to slow down the loss of species. Please fight to keep this bedrock of our environmental protection strong.

TWEET: Tweet sheet is HERE.

CALL: Find your Senators' phone numbers HERE and your Representative's phone numbers HERE. It is best to call one of the local offices, rather than the DC office. Tell the staff member who answers that you want your legislator to oppose all efforts to weaken or repeal the Endangered Species Act. (** BONUS: save these numbers in your phone contacts to make it easier to call in the future)

FACEBOOK MESSAGES: Find your Senator's Facebook page HERE. Google your Representative's Facebook page. Leave a comment to an existing article saying the following:

I support the Endangered Species Act. Please oppose all efforts to weaken or repeal it.

SIGN & SHARE THESE PETITIONS:

Endangered Species Coalition/Credo
Friends of the Earth
EarthJustice
Change
Sierra Club
Wolf Conservation Center
Care2

INSTAGRAM: Follow us on Instagram and re-gram our posts. (@ecouprising2016)
TWITTER: Follow us on Twitter and re-tweet our posts. (@ecouprising2016)

PUBLIC COMMENTS: This is THE most important action you can take to save 27 national monuments from mining, logging, drilling and other development.

Public comments on the review of a National Monument designation are due by July 10.
Comments may be submitted by mail (postcard preferred due to security) or electronically.

POSTCARDS:

MAIL TO:
Monument Review, MS-1530
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240

* Please also send postcards to your Senators (addresses may be found HERE) and to your representative (addresses may be found HERE).

* If you have visited any of the monuments under review or have a connection to them, please address that particular monument. (HERE is a list of monuments under review). Department of Interior is looking for personal stories.

* If you do not have a connection to one of the specific monuments involved, personalize the following:

I am an avid user of public lands and visit national parks and monuments regularly. I hike, camp and photograph on these lands. I want them to remain protected as national monuments.

ELECTRONIC PUBLIC COMMENT:

Please prepare your comment in a document where you can save it. Once it is complete, submit your comment HERE and please also email it to your Senators (contact info HERE) and to your representative (contact info HERE).

WHAT TO SAY (Please Personalize):

* If you have visited any of the monuments under review or have a connection to them, please address that particular monument. (HERE is a list of monuments under review). Department of Interior is looking for personal stories.

* I am an avid user of public lands. My family/partner/friends and I regularly visit our national parks and monuments. While visiting, I enjoy hiking the quiet trails, kayaking in pristine waterways, photographing wildlife and beautiful scenery and camping. These things would much more difficult if the 27 monuments at issue are opened up for development. These lands are too important culturally, ecologically and economically (for tourism value) to drill, mine or log.

* I am a parent/grandparent/aunt/uncle. It is important to me that my children/grandchildren/nieces and nephews have wild places to roam as they grow older. I want them to be able to be in touch with nature, to have places to camp and explore. Our country is blessed with places of natural beauty. Previous administrations, from Teddy Roosevelt onward, have considered the importance of preserving our wild lands and acted accordingly. Please follow in their footsteps.

* National Monument designation often increases - NOT decreases - jobs in areas surrounding the land at issue. While it is true that mining, logging and drilling jobs may decrease, OVERALL jobs increase and the sectors of tourism and local healthcare grow significantly. For instance, after the Grand Staircase was made a National Monument, it experienced strong ecumenic growth in the surrounding counties. More people were visiting, spending money on lodging, food, entertainment, recreation and souvenirs. Indeed, four key economic indicators - population, employment, personal income and per capita income - all increased after Grand Staircase was designated as a National Monument. Despite the popular argument, national monument designation HELPS, and does not hurt, local economies.

State by State Info HERE
Information on Specific Monuments HERE