Help - Take Action to Save Millions of Acres of Public Lands

[texpatriot2004]

Please call your Representative TODAY.
Tell them to vote against the House Budget bill

Budget bill would legalize the privatization of special places, millions of acres of public lands

A Temporary Victory...
As of 11/11, the House Budget bill still contains Pombo's corporate land grab mining language. However, the Budget bill has not passed as yet, in part because it still contains Pombo's corporate land grab mining language.

The bill was supposed to be voted upon on Thursday the 10th, but the House Republican leadership couldn't find enough votes for it to pass. Thanks very much to those who took action. You can take credit for helping keep this from passing (so far).

...the Battle Resumes -- Keep Up the Pressure,
Call Your Representative TODAY!
The House leadership is still trying to pass the budget bill, and will try to bring it to a vote on Tuesday, 11/15. It still includes the mining language that would authorize the purchase of the many millions of our public lands, in some cases inside our National Parks.

How to Call
Get your Representative's contact information here. We're asking that you call (instead of send a email/fax letter) because calls carry much more weight with your Representative -- and because of the urgency of the issue.

When you get them on the phone, please ask them to oppose the Budget bill because of the mining subtitle. Tell them that the mining langauge in the budget bill could -

* Put our special places at risk. It would allow mining companies to purchase thousands of acres of mining claims inside National Parks.
* Privatize our public lands. It would allow corporations to purchase millions of acres, whether they contain minerals or not -- for any purpose, such as real estate development.
* Cost taxpayers $2 billion per year. Under Pombo's proposal energy companies could buy public lands on which they now pay the federal government (and therefore all American taxpayers) royalties for extracting publicly owned oil, gas and coal. If energy companies own the land, they may not have to pay the royalties any longer.

After you call, please drop us an email. In your message please include who your Representative is, and whether they will vote for or against the Budget bill. THANKS!

Regards,
the Westerners for Responsible Mining team

FOR MORE INFORMATION go to www.bettermines.org/pombo.cfm

See Also: www.pombointheirpocket.org