hollyclimber Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 WESTERN SLOPE NO-FEE COALITION P. O. Box 403 Norwood, CO 81423 October 18, 2003 Alert!! Fee Demo Extension is Pending. Contact House and Senate Interior Appropriations Conference Committee Members. The House/Senate Interior Conference Committee will be deciding whether to, once again, extend the controversial Fee Demo program in the next week to 10 days. The House Interior Appropriations bill extends Fee Demo for the Forest Service, BLM, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for an additional two years. The Senate version does not include any extension. These two versions must be merged into one at a conference committee of Senators and Congressmen before becoming law. These House and Senate Conference Committee members are meeting right now, and it is imperative that they hear from the public and the users of our public lands. There is much at stake in Washington concerning Fee Demo at this time. ANY extension of the program at this time will be extremely detrimental to our efforts to end this misconceived program. Fortunately, many of the Senate Conferees are sympathetic to our position or are strong no-fee advocates. Unfortunately, most of the House Conferees are adamant about having at least another one-year Fee Demo extension. Please contact ALL of the Senators and Congressmen listed below sometime before Friday if you can. Contact them more than once by phone AND fax. If you have already contacted them please do so again. And again. *indicates “must call” Senate Interior Appropriations Conference Committee members: *Stevens (R-AK) 202-224-7200 202-228-0248 Fax *Burns (R-MT) 202-224-2644 202-228-4532 Fax *Byrd (D-WV) 202-224-7200 202-228-0002 Fax *Dorgan (D-ND) 202-224-2551 202-224-1193 Fax pro-fee *Domenici (R-NM) 202-224-6621 202-228-0900 Fax *Feinstein (D-CA) 202-224-3841 202-228-3954 Fax pro-fee *Leahy (D-VT) 202-224-4242 202-224-3479 Fax pro-fee *Reid (D-NV) 202-224-3542 202-224-7327 Fax Bennett (R-UT) 202-224-5444 202-228-1168 Fax Brownback (R-KS) 202-224-6521 202-228-1265 Fax Campbell (R-CO) 202-224-5852 202-228-4609 Fax Cochran (R-MS) 202-224-5054 202-224-9450 Fax Gregg (R-NH) 202-224-3324 202-224-4952 Fax Hollings (D-SC) 202-224-6121 202-224-4293 Fax Mikulski (D-MD) 202-224-4654 202-228-8858 Fax Note: Sen. Leahy has switched from opposing fees to supporting Fee Demo. Let him know what you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelle Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 Hopefully this campaign will have some affect this time. Unfortunately there are no reps from WA on the list... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off_White Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 thanks for the alert. I'm on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyclimber Posted October 20, 2003 Author Share Posted October 20, 2003 It is frustrating that there are no reps from Washington. But, as a committee issue at this point, I would hope that all the Senators and Representatives on the list will consider all Americans their "constituents". I recently wrote a letter to Feinstein of CA (we are past the letter writing period, please CALL!) and she did reply to me. I didn't get one of those "you don't live in CA responses". However, Feinstein is pro fee demo so I don't know if it helped! Anyway, I have free long distance on my cell phone, and it is pretty easy to call the staffers at these numbers and tell them you oppose fee demo. They will give you time to state a reason. While the reasons are individual to each of us and complex, an easy reason to state briefly is that you would like our national land to receive a BUDGET ALLOCATION rather than have to collect on a PER USE basis. Or, state your own reasons. But try to state a reason when you voice your opinion. Here's seeing what we can do...you never know! Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klenke Posted October 20, 2003 Share Posted October 20, 2003 How many times do they need to extend the program before making a final decision? This is just ridiculous. I suppose an extension of a possibility is better than the adhesion of a certainty (that the fee will be here forever and ever). But, again, why do they need to keep extending it? Recent evidence has shown that the Fee collection program does not work, that it costs almost as much as the total fee money collected to collect and administer those fees. It's like acne on a fifteen year old's face. They figure if they give it enough time, this budgetary inadequacy will clear itself up and the fee demo can become a "profitable" venture. Rather, what will really happen is the program will become even more of a dogged boondoggle. And that's just ONE reason why I dislike the fee demo extortion program. There, there's my rant for the week...and it's only Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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