“Many of us will be afield this fall spending time in our favorite hunting and fishing spots. We will be enjoying the tradition of these field sports so important to our lives. But as you head out to the fields, rivers and streams we want you to be aware of an important tool for conservation of those areas we find near and dear to our hearts.

The United States Congress this fall will have a unique opportunity to secure full and dedicated funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the principal source of federal dollars for protecting land in America’s national parks, forests, and other public landscapes and ensuring recreational opportunities for Americans in every state in the nation…”  Guest Opinion Article by Gary Berlin, President, American Fly Fishing Trade Association.

Read Entire Article

“Regarding the article last Thursday, ‘Obama Moves Quickly to Preserve the West,’ not only so-called environmentalists see the value in a balanced approach to energy development and conservation…”
Ryna Rock, President of the Arizona Wildlife Federation

Read More…

A bipartisan poll released Monday suggests that a strong majority of voters believe global warming is a real and needs to be remedied…

read more…

98,355 comments were received by the U.S. Department of the Interior on its proposal to withdraw approximately one million acres of U.S. Forest Service and BLM lands surrounding the Grand Canyon National Park from new uranium mining claims.

On the heels of this finding, a Pew Environment Group ad was released today urging Congress to support H.R. 644, legislation sponsored by U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva (and co-sponsored by Representative Ann Kirkpatrick) to permanently ban new uranium mining claims near the Grand Canyon.   It’s important to thank Representatives Grijalva and Kirkpatrick for their efforts here.

To view the Pew ad:  http://www.pewminingreform.org/pdf/WishAd.pdf

for more information PewPRGrancC.pdf

Some 70,000 people attended the Navajo Nation’s Tuba City Fair & Parade, October 13-16, 2009. Attendees were greeted by signs appearing on roads leading to and from the parade – and on trucks traveling in the parade – showing support for the climate and energy jobs bill in Washington (the American Clean Energy and Security Act). The Navajo Nation Tribal council recently passed two resolutions to promote clean energy jobs on the Reservation.

“Congresswoman Kirkpatrick, please bring renewable energy jobs home,” read Navajo signs as citizens encouraged Congresswoman Kirkpatrick to support climate change and clean energy jobs legislation.

VIEW IMAGES FROM THE EVENT

Tribal leaders in Arizona’s First Congressional District sent letters to Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick underscoring their support for the Clean Energy Act which was recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and is pending in the U.S. Senate.  Read More…

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) state assistance and federal lands project grants have been a crucial support for state and local park expansions and for developing recreational facilities.  Across AZ state assistance grants have benefitted 726 community parks projects providing over $58 million to match with state and local funds.  The LWCF is authorized to receive $900 million annually in federal revenues from oil and gas leasing of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).  It makes good economic sense to reinvest a small fraction of these federal leasing revenues in permanent natural resource protection.

Click here for more information

The Arizona Conservation Partnership has helped to pull together a webinar where experts will discuss how agriculture can benefit from climate change legislation while providing the most cost-effective solutions.

REGISTER NOW!

On June 26 the U.S. House of Representatives passed comprehensive legislation to flight global warming. Arizona Representatives Giffords, Grijalva and Pastor supported this historic legislation. Supporters of the American Clean Energy and Security Act estimate that it will save 240 million barrels of oil by 2020 and create 1.7 million new jobs. “The nation that leads in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy,” said President Barack Obama after the vote. “This legislation will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy leading to the creation of new businesses and new industries,” he continued.

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The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to consider H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, on Friday, June 25, or in a special Saturday session, June 26. This legislation has the potential to create millions of new clean energy jobs. “This bill would cut greenhouse gas emissions, boost renewable energy and help consumers and businesses transition to a new economy that is based on sound environmental practices. In addition, it will safeguard fish and wildlife by dedicating funding to critical areas.” Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

For more information:
Clean Energy Act Summary
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5389/t/4179/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=879

“The loss of public lands won’t automatically stop because a new guy is in the White House.  Sportsmen need to act now.  Here’s a game plan for the next four years…”  Bob Marshall, Bullet Points, FIELD AND STREAM, May, 2009.
http://online.nwf.org/site/DocServer/fieldandstream.pdf?docID=9121

An article appeared in the May 30 ARIZONA REPUBLIC underscoring the lack of resources available to deal with the serious public health and safety threats of over 10,000 known abandoned mines (the number of unknown mines is estimated at around 50,000) in Arizona today.

“It’s Mine Safety Awareness Week in Arizona, and good luck figuring out where the mines are. The Arizona State Mine Inspector’s Office does not publish a list of the state’s approximately 10,000 abandoned mines. An internal database keeps track of those known mines, but officials do not break them out by city or region.  The number of unknown mines in the state is estimated at more than 50,000…”

For more information:  http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/04/29/20090429minesafety29-ON.html

Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva today introduced legislation  to “help conserve our natural resources from the threats of climate change.”  Read More

Arizona National Parks are scheduled to receive funds for important projects to protect national monuments & landscapes, remediate abandoned mines and for other purposes.  See full list of Arizona national park areas receiving funding

Several Arizona Representatives joined a bipartisan group in the U.S. House today in voting to pass H.R.146, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. For a state-by-state breakdown of today’s vote go to http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/111/house/1/153

Please take a few minutes to thank those Representative who worked so hard to pass this legislation this year - CD 1: Representatives Ann Kirkpatrick; CD 4: Ed Pastor, CD 5: Harry Mitchell; CD7: Raul Grijalva; and CD 8: Gabrielle Giffords.
View their contact info

For more details about the legislation and activities this session see below.

The Omnibus Lands Package will come up for another vote in the U.S. House today.  For more details about the legislation, read posts below.

The Omnibus Public Land Management Act was defeated in the U.S. House on March 11 under a procedural maneuver that required a 2/3rds majority vote for passage. The final vote was 282-144 in favor, which was just short of the 2/3rds required. For the final vote tally: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll117.xml

Because of the strong bipartisan support for this measure further action is likely. Please take the time to thank the members of Arizona’s Congressional Delegation for their tireless efforts and support for the Omnibus Lands Package (Fossil Creek and all of the Arizona treasures included in the package) - Representatives Ann Kirkpatrick, Ed Pastor, Harry Mitchell, Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords. See legislator contact information

The Omnibus Public Lands Package, which permanently protects Fossil Creek and Arizona monuments and other special places in the National Landscape Conservation System, will come up for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives tomorrow. The measure will be considered under the “Suspension of the Rules” procedure which requires a 2/3rds vote for final passage.

This is a difficult procedural hurdle and each vote is critical. 

For more information: http://s22.w-w-h.org

Communicate now with Members of Arizona’s Congressional Delegation!

A final vote in the U.S. House on the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 has not been scheduled but could come quickly! When the bill comes up there will likely be a vote to “recommit” - send it back to House and Senate Committees for changes.

Congressional leaders have said that a successful motion could well kill the bill for the Congress because of the procedural hurdles it will face if it is sent back to the Senate. That’s a serious setback for efforts to protect Arizona treasures included in the National Landscape Conservation System and the years of hard work which have been devoted to long-overdue Wild and Scenic River protection for Fossil Creek.

For detailed information about the Omnibus Public Lands bill go to:
http://s22.w-w-h.org/

Fom left: Tribal Councilmember’s Libby Johnson, Robert Jackson Sr.,Roberta Quail, Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, Chairman Thomas Beautyand Tribal Councilmember’s Nancy Guzman and Cora-Lei Marquez.

Yavapai Apache Nation tribal leaders recently met with newly-elected CD 1 Representative Ann Kirkpatrick and all of the other members of the Arizona Congressional Delegation in Washington to discuss the importance of passing Omnibus Public Lands legislation, which includes formal designation of Fossil Creek as a Wild & Scenic River, Mining Law Reform and other important issues.

The Yavapai Apache Nation has been a tireless advocate for the restoration and conservation of Fossil Creek since the late 1990s. (The Nation was granted federal intervention status and was instrumental in the decommissioning of the Childs-Irving hydro-electric plant in 2006.) During their D.C. trip YAN leaders also met with the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

The U.S. House was scheduled to consider the Omnibus Lands Package last week but the vote has been postponed. Return to our website for ongoing updates.