callin to oppose cara land acquisition act
Amsnow
The American Land Rights Association is urging recreationists, hunters and those who value public land to call in to the Energy Committee today through Wednesday, June 28th to oppose the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA).
The Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA) is a trust fund that would, if passed, put $3 billion per year for 15 years into a trust fund for government land acquisition. The land would be purchased from private landowners, and more. CARA will be a $45 billion land acquisition trust fund that does not allow those moneys to be used for other important social priorities such as cancer research, education, or the military.
The idea is that once land is purchased and government-owned, land use rights will slowly be denied. Hunters and recreationists (including snowmobilers) will be groups greatly affected by CARA.
The bill has been written in such a way as to confuse readers into seeing that the bill would benefit landowners when, in fact, it is the opposite.
Committee offices will be open from about 8:00 AM Eastern Time to 5:00 PM Eastern Time. When you call, remember that you'll be talking to a staff person. Ask them not to hold a mark-up on the bill. You can reach different people at the same number. You may be told by one or two on staff members that CARA protects your private property rights. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Here are the Energy and Natural Resources Committee phone numbers to call:
(202) 224-4971
(202) 224-6665
(202) 224-6567
(202) 224-6170
(202) 224-6969
(202) 224-4103
(202) 224-8115
(202) 224-7875
Here are the Energy and Natural Resources Committee FAX numbers
FAX: (202) 224-6163
FAX: (202) 224-5301
FAX: (202) 224-9026
FAX: (202) 228-0302
FAX: (202) 228-0539
FAX: (202) 228-0459
Most Republicans on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee are strongly opposed to CARA, but there are a few who are leaning toward voting for CARA. In general, Democrats favor CARA.
Send an email to the American Land Rights Association if you need more information about CARA: alra@pacifier.com
Here are some examples cited by the American Land Rights Association for why CARA should not be passed:
The Federal agencies should take care of what they have before buying more land; hunters and sportsmen will gradually lose access to acquired lands; all lands with Endangered Species will be targets of land acquisition; land acquisition drives up the cost of land, making homes more expensive; lands cut off by Forest Service Roadless Areas and Roads Policies will become targets as well; green groups will seek to designate hundreds of areas of private land as new Federal areas; much of the money will go to the Nature Conservancy and other green land trusts and billions of dollars of private land will be taken off the tax rolls, forcing local taxes up.
For more information on the call-in, or CARA, contact:
American Land Rights Association - Land Rights Network
PO Box 400
Battle Ground WA 98604
Phone: 360/687-3087
Fax: 360/687-2973
Email: alra@pacifier.com
http://www.landrights.org