Maine Audubon Action Alert
Please join us at the State House on Wednesday, February 25, 2015.
The Environment and Natural Resources Committee will hold a public hearing on the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s bad mining rules.
In addition, the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, together with the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, will hold a public hearing on the proposals to split up the Bureau of Parks and Lands and dramatically weaken the Maine Forest Service’s ability to conduct compliance and enforcement activities.
Please join us at the State House on Wednesday, February 25 and speak out against the rules and the proposals. If you can’t come, please contact the committee members and share your concerns.
When:
Wednesday, February 25, 9 am & 10 am:
* The Environment and Natural Resources Committee will start the mining hearing at 9 am in Room 216 of the State Office Building.
The Appropriations and Financials Affairs Committee, together with the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, will start its hearing at 10 am in room 228 of the State House.
We expect that there will be time to visit both hearings to share your concerns.
Why we need you to take action:
Mining
Last year, thanks to you and thousands of people statewide, the Maine Legislature overwhelmingly defeated the bad mining rules that would have allowed dangerous mines near some of Maine’s most treasured places. Legislators heard loud and clear from you that these bad rules from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) did not protect Maine’s clean water and wildlife.
Unfortunately, the exact same weak mining rules the Legislature defeated last year are back again this year.
Learn why these mining rules are bad for Maine’s environment and wildlife.
Public Lands and Forestry
Governor LePage’s 2016-2017 budget proposes to break apart Maine’s Bureau of Parks & Lands and slash Maine Forest Ranger law enforcement capacity by 90%.
This would leave our public trust lands vulnerable to industrial-style timber extraction, diminish the importance of recreation and wildlife habitat management on our public lands and would degrade water quality in our lakes, rivers and streams.
- The budget proposes to move Public Lands under the authority of the Maine Forest Service (MFS), but Public Lands and the MFS have very different objectives: Public lands are managed for multiple public uses. The MFS’s focus is forest health and timber extraction.
- Maine’s Forest Rangers play an essential role in enforcing important environmental laws; the proposed budget slashes their enforcement capability by 90%.
Learn why this budget proposal is bad for Maine’s environment and wildlife.
For more information, please contact:
Jenn Burns Gray
Maine Audubon Staff Attorney and Advocate
jgray@maineaudubon.org
(207) 781-2330 x224
