brachycentrus
Just finished a River Runs Through it!
Friends of the Upper Delaware River
Protecting People and Habitat
May 26, 2010
Dear FUDR Friends and Supporters:
I need 5 minutes of your time. I’ll explain why at the end of this letter.
I’m writing to call your attention to important proposed federal
legislation that would establish a program to protect the Delaware Basin.
The Delaware River Basin Conservation Act would provide $5,000,000 for each
fiscal year from 2011 to 2016. Funds would be used to implement a voluntary,
coordinated approach to sustaining and enhancing habitat, water quality and
flood control improvements for fish, wildlife and people. The bill is
currently in committee in the House of Representatives, and discussions are
underway to introduce a companion bill in the Senate.
I don’t believe there has ever been a more thoughtful, insightful proposal
to make resources available to help the upper Delaware River Basin. FUDR is
behind the proposal legislation 100 percent. We believe it would fund
precisely the sorts of projects that we have been working on, including
stream restoration.
Under the act, the federal Interior Secretary would coordinate a program that
would involve all four states in the basin, New York, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey and Delaware. The program would include a competitive grants component
to provide support for local, on-the-ground projects by non-profits,
universities, state and local governments, community organizations and
others. The grants could be used to support such things as wetlands
restoration and protection, flood mitigation and waterfront revitalization.
The bill has the support of a number of conservation organizations.
In many ways, the Delaware River Basin has lacked a coordinated
federal/state/local oversight effort, even though it is home to more than 8
million people and provides drinking water to 15 million. Other major
American watersheds, including the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay, get
tens of millions of dollars in federal funding for conservation coordination.
The Delaware Basin get relatively little funding, and the upper basin gets
none.
The lack of coordination leaves the Basin vulnerable. The Delaware River is
the longest undammed river east of the Mississippi. Management of the river
and water volume in the Basin is critical to flood control and habitat for
fish and wildlife. Following three major floods in the past five years along
the river, the governors of the four Basin states have called for protection
of natural flood control mechanisms to combat the problem.
Existing programs have limited resources to fully address the habitat,
recreation and water challenges in the Basin in a coordinated manner.
The Delaware River Basin Conservation Act (H.R. 4698) was introduced on Feb.
25 by U.S. Rep. Michael Castle (R-Del.) and has bipartisan co-sponsorship by
U.S. Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), Rush Holt (D-N.J.), Charles Dent (R-Pa.)
and Joe Sestak (D.-Pa.).
So here’s where I need those 5 minutes of your time.
It is vital for individuals, municipalities and organizations within the
Delaware Basin to contact their federal representatives to voice support for
the legislation. You can find a list of Basin congressmen at the
Northeast-Midwest Institute website at www.nemw.org/delaware. Please visit
your congressman’s website and send an email thanking them for supporting
H.R. 4698, the proposed Delaware River Basin Conservation Act. (These days,
politicians prefer emails to old-fashioned letters. Their websites make it
very easy to comment via email, generally under the “Contact” icon.)
This is a great opportunity for us to draw long overdue funding and attention
to our vital and precious natural resource.
Thank you.
Dan Plummer
FUDR Board Chairman
Protecting People and Habitat
May 26, 2010
Dear FUDR Friends and Supporters:
I need 5 minutes of your time. I’ll explain why at the end of this letter.
I’m writing to call your attention to important proposed federal
legislation that would establish a program to protect the Delaware Basin.
The Delaware River Basin Conservation Act would provide $5,000,000 for each
fiscal year from 2011 to 2016. Funds would be used to implement a voluntary,
coordinated approach to sustaining and enhancing habitat, water quality and
flood control improvements for fish, wildlife and people. The bill is
currently in committee in the House of Representatives, and discussions are
underway to introduce a companion bill in the Senate.
I don’t believe there has ever been a more thoughtful, insightful proposal
to make resources available to help the upper Delaware River Basin. FUDR is
behind the proposal legislation 100 percent. We believe it would fund
precisely the sorts of projects that we have been working on, including
stream restoration.
Under the act, the federal Interior Secretary would coordinate a program that
would involve all four states in the basin, New York, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey and Delaware. The program would include a competitive grants component
to provide support for local, on-the-ground projects by non-profits,
universities, state and local governments, community organizations and
others. The grants could be used to support such things as wetlands
restoration and protection, flood mitigation and waterfront revitalization.
The bill has the support of a number of conservation organizations.
In many ways, the Delaware River Basin has lacked a coordinated
federal/state/local oversight effort, even though it is home to more than 8
million people and provides drinking water to 15 million. Other major
American watersheds, including the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay, get
tens of millions of dollars in federal funding for conservation coordination.
The Delaware Basin get relatively little funding, and the upper basin gets
none.
The lack of coordination leaves the Basin vulnerable. The Delaware River is
the longest undammed river east of the Mississippi. Management of the river
and water volume in the Basin is critical to flood control and habitat for
fish and wildlife. Following three major floods in the past five years along
the river, the governors of the four Basin states have called for protection
of natural flood control mechanisms to combat the problem.
Existing programs have limited resources to fully address the habitat,
recreation and water challenges in the Basin in a coordinated manner.
The Delaware River Basin Conservation Act (H.R. 4698) was introduced on Feb.
25 by U.S. Rep. Michael Castle (R-Del.) and has bipartisan co-sponsorship by
U.S. Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), Rush Holt (D-N.J.), Charles Dent (R-Pa.)
and Joe Sestak (D.-Pa.).
So here’s where I need those 5 minutes of your time.
It is vital for individuals, municipalities and organizations within the
Delaware Basin to contact their federal representatives to voice support for
the legislation. You can find a list of Basin congressmen at the
Northeast-Midwest Institute website at www.nemw.org/delaware. Please visit
your congressman’s website and send an email thanking them for supporting
H.R. 4698, the proposed Delaware River Basin Conservation Act. (These days,
politicians prefer emails to old-fashioned letters. Their websites make it
very easy to comment via email, generally under the “Contact” icon.)
This is a great opportunity for us to draw long overdue funding and attention
to our vital and precious natural resource.
Thank you.
Dan Plummer
FUDR Board Chairman
Just pointing out the obvious...why not try my approach and back off and see what transpires? Oh yeah, then you won't be able to raise money
