I. POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM CONGRESS

II. SAVE OUR SUMMERS CAMPAIGN

III. THANKS TO NWF INTERN, JOSH BRANN

I. Hill Staffers, Others Have Positive Outlook for CARA

The Conservation and Reinvestment Act appears to be picking up steam in the Senate. Recent meetings with Senate staff members have indicated that more discussion is being generated about conservation funding legislation, and there seems to be a positive buzz on Capitol Hill. Sources are optimistic that a compromise on a conservation funding bill can be reached between Chair Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and Ranking Member Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Murkowski and Bingaman are the sponsors of the two primary conservation funding proposals, S. 2123 and S. 2181.

Helping build support for CARA are a number of Senators who have taken this issue to heart and are working hard to encourage passage of CARA in the Senate. Among these "champions" are Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA), John Breaux (D-LA) and Mike DeWine (R-OH). Senators DeWine, Smith ( R-NH), Robb (D-VA), and Abraham ( R-MI) recently sent a letter to the entire Senate urging passage of CARA and transmitting the list of over 4500 entities that support CARA. The Senate leadership also remains supportive of CARA, and in a recent meeting between Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) and Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) CARA was discussed as being on the short list of legislation to potentially be debated before the end of the year.

While we are cautiously optimistic, there are many hurdles to overcome and it is critical to continue to build support for conservation funding in the Senate. There are members who remain uninformed and unaware of the importance and necessity for this historic conservation legislation. It is imperative that we keep up the pressure on Senators, particularly key Senators on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, to support and ultimately pass strong permanent conservation funding legislation this year. Call and write your Senator today (and everyday!) to let them know you care about conservation funding - and ask your friends and family to do the same.

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II. Save Our Summers!

In a effort to help build support for CARA in the Senate, NWF and other conservation and recreation groups are kicking off the Save Our Summers grassroots activism campaign. Activists are encouraged to participate in the three following activities as a part of this campaign:

1. Send Your Senators a Souvenir of Summer: We want to make CARA-related correspondence stand out from the rest of the letters that Senators receive this summer, so we want you to send them a souvenir of summer starting June 20th, the first day of summer. A "souvenir" could be anything from a fishing lure to a wildlife photo to a piece of driftwood. To receive a MS Word document outlining details for this activity email me at applegate@nwf.org.

2. Celebrate Independence Day with Your Senators: Track down your Senators at fairs, fundraisers, and other events during the Independence Day Congressional Recess and urge them to support conservation funding related legislation in the Senate.

3. Come to Washington: We are organizing a Congressional Education Day for July 19, 2000. Please mark your calendars and try to make it to town to see your Senators for the final push before the long August congressional recess. Contact me if you are interested in getting more details.

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III. NWF Intern Moves On

I wanted to extend by deep appreciation for my intern, Josh Brann, who has been such a great help on the Conservation Funding campaign for the last 5 months. Josh is moving on to bigger and better things in the field of conservation policy. Since Josh arrived, he has capably handled much of the legwork around projects such as the wildlife rally in March, editorial board and letter to the editor mailings, writing updates for NWF publications as well as so much more. We will miss him and wish him the best of luck. Adam Sennick will be filling the intern position starting the end of this month. Thanks to Josh and welcome Adam!

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