House Passes Highway Bill, No LWCF, Conference Committee Now.

 

The House passed its version of the Highway bill on Wednesday, April 18th without the LWCF (Land and Water Conservation Fund) included.

 

Thanks to all who made calls and sent e-mails and faxes.

 

Now the battle is on in House-Senate Conference Committee between the Senate Highway bill that DOES have the LWCF and the House version of the Highway bill with NO LWCF land acquisition.

 

You must call your Congressman and both Senators immediately to urge them to oppose any LWCF Fund add on in the Highway Bill in the House-Senate Conference Committee.

 

Massive increase in land acquisition at stake.

 

Rural America In Peril

 

Action by you now is critical.

 

Urgent Action Required

 

-----All property owners must take immediate action.

 

If the LWCF Land Acquisition Amendment is included in the final Highway Bill it means a huge increase in land acquisition funding for the Park Service, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management.

 

The LWCF threatens inholders, landowners, ranchers, farmers, miners, forestry advocates and many others. It also means a threat to off-highway vehicle users. Access will be cut off to Federal lands.

 

It also threatens and undermines local communities with the loss of tax base as the LWCF converts millions of acres of private land into government ownership.

 

The LWCF threatens Rural America.

 

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-----Here’s what the environmental groups said while jumping up and down with glee about the Senate LWCF Amendment your Senators voted on:

 

*-----From Energy and Environment Newsletter:* "The result is an amendment that supporters now say would provide perhaps the largest-ever federal boost to conservation and environmental efforts in the nation.”

 

----- "This could be the biggest infusion of conservation dollars in history," said Joshua Saks, legislative director for the *National Wildlife Federation.* "This would be a remarkable achievement."

 

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-----In summary, the Senate doubled the money they take from taxpayers for the Land and Water Conservation fund to buy land by adding $700 million for each of the next two years on a guaranteed basis (no need to for Congress to appropriate).

 

There is no Congressional appropriations process for this money in the LWCF fund and little or no oversight in spite of our country facing a huge debt and deficit.

 

Stop The LWCF Highway Bill Land Grab, Go To www.landrights.org <http://www.landrights.org/> for more details.

 

*Action Items: (The LWCF is a huge issue that threatens you).*

* *

*-----*1*. *Please forward this message to at least 10 other people.

Your whole list if possible.

* *

-----2. *Deluge your Congressman with calls, faxes and e-mails from now until May 15th.* Call at least once a week. Call any Congressman at (202) 225-3121. You must make his or her phone come off the hook.

 

Ask him or her to oppose any LWCF funds in the Highway Bill Conference Committee between the House and Senate versions of the bill. No land acquisition funds should be included in the Highway Bill.

 

The House-Senate Conference Committee will take place shortly.

That’s why your calls, faxes and e-mails now are so critical. The greens are deluging Congress with calls. You must do the same.

 

-----3. Your Senator will get a chance to vote on the House-Senate Conference Committee report. If your Senator voted for the LWCF, tell his staff he can help make amends by sending a letter to the Conference Committee opposing the LWCF funding. Ask for a copy of the letter. Call any Senator at (202) 224-3121. Ask for the staff persons e-mail address. Fire off a short one-page letter.

 

Your Senator can still place roadblocks in front of the LWCF funding even if he or she was foolish enough to vote for it. You need to make him or her want to stop the bill. That will only happen if you place enough pressure. Numbers count. Your calls and e-mails count.

 

Look below at the list of Senators that voted for the LWCF Amendment to the Highway Bill.

 

-----4. Deluge the Speaker of the House John Boehner at (202) 225-0600 or the Capital Switchboard at (202) 225-3121. Urge him to oppose any LWCF funds in the Highway Bill Conference Committee. .

E-mail Boehner at: -- bill.greene@mail.house.gov <mailto:bill.greene@mail.house.gov>

 

-----5. Call, fax and e-mail the offices of other House Leaders:

 

Rep. Eric Cantor House, Majority Leader (202) 225-4000

Fax: (202) 226-1115. E-mails: steve.stombres@mail.house.gov<mailto:steve.stombres@mail.house.gov>

 

neil.Bradley@mail.house.gov<mailto:neil.Bradley@mail.house.gov>

 

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Whip (202) 225-0197

Fax: (202) 225-0781 E-mails: brian.worth@mail.house.gov <mailto:brian.worth@mail.house.gov>

 

Natalie.Buchanan@mail.house.gov

<mailto:Natalie.Buchanan@mail.house.gov>

 

Urge them to oppose LWCF in the Highway bill Conference Committee.

 

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* *

*-----What’s wrong with the LWCF (Land and Water Conservation Fund) portion of the Highway Bill (we were calling it the Transportation

bill) *

 

-----A. *It doubles funding for the LWCF adding $700 million for each of the next two years.* The greens will use this bump in funding to set a precedent for future years funding. So this is more than a fight over two years funding. You also must block the trust fund part. Any money must go through the appropriations process.

 

-----B. Extends the LWCF until 2022 from the present law of 2015.

 

-----C. *It funds a CARA like Land Acquisition Trust Fund that will be a threat to all private property owners and Rural America for many

years.*

 

-----D. *None of this money will be used to create jobs.*

 

-----E. *None of this money will be used to reduce the deficit.*

 

-----F. The LWCF money will be a dagger in heart of the economy.

 

-----G. A fully funded LWCF is an all out attack on Rural America.

 

-----H. A fully funded LWCF is an attack on local communities.

 

-----I. Inholders and landowners are in grave danger.

 

-----J. LWCF land acquisition will lead to a massive expansion of Federal lands thereby reducing your access and use. The green groups will work to get the new Federal lands into Wilderness status.

 

You do not want the Park Service, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and BLM to get these billions of dollars to buy millions of acres of private land and convert it to government ownership.

 

The land acquisition funding in the Senate Highway Bill threatens all private property owners, ranchers, farmers, miners, forestry and other users of both private as well as Federal land.

 

The LWCF is a constant attack on Rural America. It is the attempt by the greens to drive rural people out of their homes and into the cities.

 

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-----Some people ask, why do the greens do this.

 

-----An American Land Rights member from Ohio described the motivation of the greens the best when she said:

 

-----"The Preservationists are like a new religion, a new paganism, that worships trees and sacrifices people.”

 

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The environmental groups are putting on a full court press in Congress to pass the LWCF funding so they can drive you off the land.

 

They want to have Congress spend billions of dollars to buy private land and turn it into government ownership.

 

-----Urgent Action By You Now Is Required. Stop the attack on Rural America.

 

Look here at the Senators who voted for the LWCF Amendment to the Highway Bill.

 

Amendment (Nelson (FL) (Restore Act including LWCF) Amdt. No. 1822)

*Number: *Senate Vote #32 in 2012

*Date: *Mar 8, 2012 3:24PM

*Result: *Amendment Agreed to *Amendment: *to S. 1813: MAP-21

* *

*VOTE DETAILS (A Yea vote means they voted for the LWCF)*

* *

/Alabama/

Yea AL Sessions, Jefferson

Yea AL Shelby, Richard

 

/Alaska/

Yea AK Begich, Mark

Yea AK Murkowski, Lisa

 

/Arizona/

Nay AZ Kyl, Jon

Nay AZ McCain, John

 

/Arkansas/

Yea AR Boozman, John

Yea AR Pryor, Mark

 

/California/

Yea CA Boxer, Barbara

Yea CA Feinstein, Dianne

 

/Colorado/

Yea CO Bennet, Michael

Yea CO Udall, Mark

 

/Connecticut/

Yea CT Blumenthal, Richard

Yea CT Lieberman, Joseph

 

/Delaware/

Yea DE Carper, Thomas

Yea DE Coons, Chris

 

/Florida/

Yea FL Nelson, Bill

Nay FL Rubio, Marco

 

/Georgia/

Yea GA Chambliss, Saxby

Yea GA Isakson, John

 

/Hawaii/

Yea HI Akaka, Daniel

Yea HI Inouye, Daniel

 

/Idaho/

Yea ID Crapo, Michael

Nay ID Risch, James

 

/Illinois/

Yea IL Durbin, Richard

Not Voting IL Kirk, Mark

 

/Indiana/

Nay IN Coats, Daniel

Nay IN Lugar, Richard

 

/Iowa/

Nay IA Grassley, Charles

Yea IA Harkin, Thomas

 

/Kansas/

Yea KS Moran, Jerry

Yea KS Roberts, Pat

 

/Kentucky/

Nay KY McConnell, Mitch

Nay KY Paul, Rand

 

/Louisiana/

Yea LA Landrieu, Mary

Yea LA Vitter, David

 

/Maine/

Yea ME Collins, Susan

Yea ME Snowe, Olympia

 

/Maryland/

Yea MD Cardin, Benjamin

Yea MD Mikulski, Barbara

 

/Massachusetts/

Yea MA Brown, Scott

Yea MA Kerry, John

 

/Michigan/

Yea MI Levin, Carl

Yea MI Stabenow, Debbie Ann

 

/Minnesota/

Yea MN Franken, Al

Yea MN Klobuchar, Amy

 

/Mississippi/

Yea MS Cochran, Thad

Yea MS Wicker, Roger

 

/Missouri/

Yea MO Blunt, Roy

Yea MO McCaskill, Claire

 

/Montana/

Yea MT Baucus, Max

Yea MT Tester, Jon

 

/Nebraska/

Nay NE Johanns, Mike

Yea NE Nelson, Ben

 

/Nevada/

Nay NV Heller, Dean

Yea NV Reid, Harry

 

/New Hampshire/

Yea NH Ayotte, Kelly

Yea NH Shaheen, Jeanne

 

/New Jersey/

Yea NJ Lautenberg, Frank

Yea NJ Menendez, Robert

 

/New Mexico/

Yea NM Bingaman, Jeff

Yea NM Udall, Tom

 

/New York/

Yea NY Gillibrand, Kirsten

Yea NY Schumer, Charles

 

/North Carolina/

Nay NC Burr, Richard

Yea NC Hagan, Kay

 

/North Dakota/

Yea ND Conrad, Kent

Yea ND Hoeven, John

 

/Ohio/

Yea OH Brown, Sherrod

Yea OH Portman, Robert

 

/Oklahoma/

Nay OK Coburn, Thomas

Yea OK Inhofe, James

 

/Oregon/

Yea OR Merkley, Jeff

Yea OR Wyden, Ron

 

/Pennsylvania/

Yea PA Casey, Robert

Nay PA Toomey, Patrick

 

/Rhode Island/

Yea RI Reed, John

Yea RI Whitehouse, Sheldon

 

/South Carolina/

Nay SC DeMint, Jim

Nay SC Graham, Lindsey

 

/South Dakota/

Yea SD Johnson, Tim

Not Voting SD Thune, John

 

/Tennessee/

Yea TN Alexander, Lamar

Nay TN Corker, Bob

 

/Texas/

Yea TX Cornyn, John

Yea TX Hutchison, Kay

 

/Utah/

Nay UT Hatch, Orrin

Nay UT Lee, Mike

 

/Vermont/

Yea VT Leahy, Patrick

Yea VT Sanders, Bernard

 

/Virginia/

Yea VA Warner, Mark

Yea VA Webb, Jim

 

/Washington/

Yea WA Cantwell, Maria

Yea WA Murray, Patty

 

/West Virginia/

Yea WV Manchin, Joe

Yea WV Rockefeller, John

 

/Wisconsin/

Nay WI Johnson, Ron

Yea WI Kohl, Herbert

 

/Wyoming/

Nay WY Barrasso, John

Nay WY Enzi, Michael