>>
>>A special message from Rebecca R. Wodder, President of American Rivers
>>
>>The River movement needs you, now more than ever.
>>
>>Conservation-minded Senators and Representatives of both parties
>>lost their seats in Congress last week. Key committees are now in
>>the hands of people with some of the worst environmental voting
>>records on Capitol Hill.
>>
>>The damage to rivers has already begun.
>>
>>Without sufficient checks and balances, the Administration is
>>planning a major attack on the Clean Water Act. A proposed
>>rulemaking could significantly weaken the Act's protections for
>>wetlands, tributaries and seasonal streams.
>>
>>We at <http://www.americanrivers.org/>American Rivers want you to
>>know that we will work with you, and other members of the river and
>>watershed movement, to fend off a rollback of this landmark law
>>that has protected rivers in our communities for the last 30 years.
>>
>>Now, more than ever, you belong in the river movement -- and the
>>movement needs you.
>>
>>ROLLING BACK KEY PROTECTIONS
>>
>>The rollback of the Clean Water Act has been initiated in the White
>>House and the executive offices of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
>>and the Environmental Protection Agency.
>>
>>It would benefit land developers, agribusiness, and coal mining
>>interests. If they get their way, up to 60 percent of our rivers,
>>streams, and wetlands -- any body of water that is not
>>"navigable" -- could lose protection under the Clean Water Act.
>>
>>Even before this, decades of improvement in water quality has been
>>threatened by a rising tide of polluted runoff from streets,
>>fields, developments, and crumbling sewers. In the EPA's own words,
>>unless we address it, this trend could return water pollution to
>>"1970s levels."
>>
>>Now the Administration's latest attempt to exempt so many of our
>>waters from the Clean Water Act threatens to leave our river
>>systems vulnerable to pollution and harmful alterations of all
>>kinds.
>>
>>This could allow waste to be dumped directly into streams, as well
>>as costing us their ability to filter runoff, shelter wildlife, and
>>provide natural flood control -- not to mention the extraordinary
>>beauty of so many of these areas.
>>
>>Water quality will further decline. And the watchdogs in Congress
>>will be able to do little about it without strong and sustained
>>activism by you and tens of thousands of others on the front lines
>>of water protection.
>>
>>WHAT YOU CAN DO
>>
>>We will alert you the second that your action is needed to make a
>>difference. Your voices have been instrumental in stopping previous
>>efforts to roll back basic laws that protect rivers.
>>
>>The vast majority of Americans still rank clean water and
>>protection of native wildlife (which depends on healthy rivers)
>>among their most important values. Congress will still respond to
>>those priorities when they hear from you about the importance of
>>healthy rivers.
>>
>>We'll win when we make it clear that we represent serious
>>environmental issues that people care about, not just semantic
>>debates.
>>
>>Our biggest challenge will be proving that even minor changes in a
>>law as fundamental as the Clean Water Act can have huge
>>consequences for local communities, and nationwide.
>>
>>As co-chair of both the <http://www.cwn.org/>Clean Water Network
>>and the <http://www.amrivers.org/armycorpsreform/default.htm>Corps
>>Reform Network, and facilitator of the
>><http://www.americanrivers.org/feature/riveragenda.htm>River Agenda
>>initiative, we at American Rivers are preparing ourselves more than
>>ever to tell your stories, show pictures, and bring home the local
>>impacts -- congressional district by congressional district -- of
>>any proposals by Congress and the Administration that would harm
>>rivers and fresh water.
>>
>>We're all in this together. Here is what I would like you to do:
>>
>>1. Please forward this alert to at least 5 of your friends. Ask
>>each of them to set up their own personal
>><http://www.amrivers.org/takeaction/default.htm>River Action Center
>>so they'll be ready to tell decisionmakers what they think in the
>>months ahead, and to spread the word.
>>
>>2. Promise yourself that you'll reply to at least 10
>><http://www.amrivers.org/takeaction/default.htm>River Action Alerts
>>in the next year. It's a great New Year's Resolution!
>>
>>3. Take this moment to renew your own
>><https://radlib.com/ar/>American Rivers membership. That way you'll
>>be counted in the river movement just when we need the most
>>strength in numbers. That day, I am afraid, is right around the
>>corner.
>>
>>For all of us at American Rivers, thank you for standing up for
>>what you believe in.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>Rebecca R. Wodder
>>President
>>
>>P.S. If you have a compelling story about how the Clean Water Act
>>has helped your local river, and what its rollback could do in your
>>community, drop a line to American Rivers' Outreach Director
>>Matt Sicchio at
>><>msicchio at americanrivers.org.
>>
>>
>>Thank you lpage1_at_ufl.edu for helping to protect and restore
>>America's rivers. To contact American Rivers, email us at
>><>outreach at amrivers.org
>>
>>To unsubscribe from this distribution list, reply to this email
>>(<>action at action.amrivers.org) and
>>include "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
>>
>>To remove yourself from all our lists, or to update your
>>information and/or preferences, please visit and log-in at:
>><http://amriversaction.ctsg.com/profileEditor/index.asp>http://amriversaction.ctsg.com/profileEditor/index.asp
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