Date: October 4, 1999
Contact: Gary Appelson
(325) 373-6441
**Senator Bob Graham (strong refuge supporter in the past- his support now is essential)
Phone-202-224-3041
Fax-202-224-2237
bob_graham@graham.senate.gov
524 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC, 20510
Senator Connie Mack
Phone-202-224-5274
Fax-202-224-8022
connie@mack.senate.gov
517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC, 20510
STC has recently learned that almost $3 million requested by the Clinton Administration and the US Fish and Wildlife Service for land acquisition in the Archie Carr Refuge has been cut from the Presidents’s budget and is not in the US Senate or House budget bills. The money would have gone towards the acquisition of key parcels in the central portion of the refuge. This area is under intense development pressure and critical beach front properties are being lost at alarming rates. The Archie Carr Refuge is the most important nesting area for loggerhead turtles in the western hemisphere and the most important nesting beach for green turtles in the continental United States.
There is still time to influence the process, as both the House and Senate still need to come together in a “conference committee” to agree on a joint budget bill. Consequently, unless we can convince some key Senators or Representatives to come to bat for the refuge during the conference committee process, there will be no badly needed federal dollars this year.
We must convince Senator Bob Graham, Senator Connie Mac, Representative Dave Weldon, and Representative C.W. Young to put their heads together to reinstate funding for the Archie Carr Refuge. This strategy will only work if they hear from enough people. They are all important players. Let them know you are disappointed and that you are depending on them to find the money for the refuge. While e-mailing is helpful, it is also the least personal. Faxes, letters, and personal phone calls are preferred. Multiple contacts are also effective, an initial phone call to a key environmental staff person followed by a personal letter and an e-mail, for example, will get their attention.
Below is a list of elected officials that need to be contacted, followed by a sample letter. Some of these congressmen, such as Graham and Weldon, have been very supportive of the Carr Refuge in the past. So it is appropriate to thank them for their past support while stressing that now is not the time to abandon the refuge. The problem is they were not vocal supporters this year!!
**Senator Bob Graham (strong refuge supporter in the past- his support now is essential)
Phone-202-224-3041
Fax-202-224-2237
bob_graham@graham.senate.gov
524 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC, 20510
Senator Connie Mack
Phone-202-224-5247
Fax-202-224-8022
connie@mack.senate.gov
517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC, 20510
Representative Dave Weldon (represents the Carr Refuge area)
Phone-202-225-3671
Fax-202-225-3516
Web site: http://www.house.gov./weldon
332 Cannon House Office Bldg
Washington DC, 20515
Representative C.W. Young (Chairman of House Appropriations Committee- he will only support the refuge appropriation if the above three are on board and request funding.)
Phone-202-225-5961
Fax-202-225-9764
2407 Rayburn House Office Bldg
Washington DC, 20515
George Frampton, Chairman (Will likely represent the administration in the conference committee, must push for their original budget request for the refuge.)
Council on Environmental Quality
Phone-202-456-6224
Fax-202-456-2710
722 Jackson Place NW
Washington DC 20503
You can copy and mail a Sample letter, but explaining in your own words why the refuge is important, is best.
Sea Turtle Conservancy
