[at-l] Tomorrow morning.......?????

[kahley7@ptd.net (kahley)]

****The US Congress is currently doing their annual budget dance.....
Who will win and who will loose?  How much of our money will
go to building and maintaining Trails?  Not enough...fer sure!

This week, the Senate may be voting on how much money will go
to the Trails......a call to your senator might be in order?????
I know.....spending bills originate in the House, but the bill
they passed doesn't include any real increase in spending
and we're gonna need more money of the second part of this
notice passes....It provides for the other National Trails to start buying
land.  More power to  them, but that's a lot more hands grabbing for
the same piece of pie......errr appropriations...
BTW...AHS is American Hiking Society
http://www.americanhiking.org/*****

snatched from the ALDHA list.....

HELP FUND YOUR TRAILS
Contact your Senators TODAY to help increase funding for trails in FY 2002.
The full Senate will vote on the Interior Appropriations bill this week,
perhaps as early as July 11. Call your Senators NOW and urge them to
support
funding increases for trails and recreation management. American Hiking
recommends the following appropriations:
- $8.25 million for the sixteen national scenic and historic trails
administered by the National Park Service.
- $12 million for the National Park Service's Rivers, Trails, and
Conservation Assistance program.
- $330 million for Recreation Management, Heritage and Wilderness and $100
million for Capital Improvement and Maintenance for trails in the USDA
Forest Service.
- $59 million increase for Recreation Management in the Bureau of Land
Management.
Trail and recreation management programs in the federal agencies remain
severely underfunded and understaffed. The agencies require funding
increases to enhance natural and cultural resource management and
protection, improve visitor services, and strengthen volunteer
partnerships.
The House Interior Appropriations bill passed earlier this summer with
baseline funding or modest increases for most trail and recreation
categories. Tell your Senators to increase funding and protect the natural
and recreational resources of the nation.
****************
To call your Member of Congress:
US Capitol Switchboard
(202) 224-3121

*****AAAANNNNNDDDDDDD......*****


WILLING SELLER BILL INTRODUCED IN SENATE
Please act now to help pass willing seller legislation in the Senate.
Contact your Senators by phone or letter, and urge them to support willing
seller land acquisition authority for the National Trails System.
In late June, Senator Levin (D-MI) and five colleagues introduced S. 1069,
the National Trails System Willing Seller Act. It gives nine of the
twenty-two national scenic and historic trails that lack federal land
acquisition authority the ability to buy land from willing sellers. H.R.
834, the House version of the bill, passed earlier this year by a 409-3
vote.
Willing seller authority restores parity to the National Trails System,
will
help complete nearly half of the National Trails System, restores basic
property rights, and will help protect critical natural and cultural
resources along the national scenic and historic trails.
Winning "willing-seller" authority for the national trails has been one of
AHS' top priorities for years and is critical to the protection and
completion of the National Trails System. The nine affected trails are: the
Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, Lewis and Clark, Iditarod and Nez Perce National
Historic Trails and the Continental Divide, Ice Age, North Country and
Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trails.
To write your Senator directly via email, visit
<http://www.americanhiking.org/policy/write.html>, adding a paragraph if
you
choose to personalize your request. Or, use the letter as a sample and send
in your own hard copy.

*****errrrr.......IMO.....willing seller beats the heck outta eminent 
domain but we have
to have da bucks in da bank.  So call you Senator TOMORROW MORNING
and let him know that money for Trails is your priority!!!  What's it gonna 
cost
ya?  Five minutes and the price of a slice......******