Trails are in Trouble: Federal Funding Low

[Nancy DuPont <Htrails@Earthlink.net>]

>
>News Alert:  forwarded from the American Hiking Society.
>
>Please act now: write that letter, make that phone call, spread the
>word.  If I can trouble you to also fax a copy of your letter to me at
>(520) 632-1147, it will give us an idea of the response across the
>country.
>
>Thanks,
>Pam Gluck, Executive Director
>American Trails
>P.O. Box 11046
>Prescott, AZ 86304
>(520) 632-1140
>fax (520) 632-1147
>e-mail: AmTrails@lankaster.com
>http://www.outdoorlink.com/amtrails
>
>_________________________________________

>
>	American Hiking Society's	May 1999
>	Capitol Trails Broadcast for AHS Affiliates and Partners
>No. 26
>
>Trails in Trouble; Federal Funding Low
>   The federal budget for trails looks pretty dismal this year. Congress
>is threatening to cut funding dramatically. In the House of
>Representatives, where all money bills start, the allocation for the
>Interior Appropriations Subcommittee for Fiscal Year 2000 is almost 20
>percent less than what was authorized last year. The problem is that the
>Balanced Budget Agreement, signed two years ago, put very tight caps on
>discretionary spending, including federal trails, National Parks and
>National Forests. The full Appropriations Committee, then, under the
>Agreement, allocated less money for the Interior Appropriations
>Subcommittee to parcel out among the parks and forests than in past
>years.
>   American Hiking needs your help to let Congress know that trails and
>parks and forests are important and should receive the funding they
>need. Please contact the leaders of the House and Senate Interior
>Appropriations Subcommittees, plus your own Representatives and Senators
>(addresses below) by mid-June and ask them to fully fund trails by
>appropriating the following:
>National Park Service: 
>*	Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program: $12 million
>*	National Trails System (includes national scenic and historic
>trails): $6.8 million.
>USDA Forest Service:
>*	Trails Construction/ Reconstruction: $30 million
>*	Trails Maintenance: $35 million
>*	National Trails System (includes national scenic and historic
>trails): $3.5 million.
>Bureau of Land Management:
>*	Recreation Management: $71 million
>*	National Trails System (includes national scenic and historic
>trails): $2 million.
>Land and Water Conservation Fund:
>*	Fully fund the state and federal sides of LWCF at $900 million,
>including money to acquire: 
>*	Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail:  $5 million (California
>parcel)
>*	Florida National Scenic Trail: $1.5 million (Florida)
>*	Ice Age National Scenic Trail: $2 million (Wisconsin)
>*	North Country National Scenic Trail: $2 million (Michigan,
>Minnesota, Wisconsin and New York).
>   If Congress hears, loudly and repeatedly, that funding to support
>hiking and outdoor recreation is important, they may be willing to bust
>the budget caps. Please write your Congress Members immediately.
>ADT Hearing in Senate; Bill Stalled in House
>   A bill to designate the coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail as
>the first national discovery trail (S. 734) has been re-introduced in
>the Senate by Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK). The American Discovery
>Trail Society will testify at a hearing before the Senate Energy and
>Natural Resources Committee on May 25th. 
>   Sen. Murkowski introduced the same bill last year. The bill
>unanimously passed the Senate, but a companion bill introduced by Rep.
>Doug Bereuter (R-NE) in the House failed. The House bill hit a snag in
>the Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee when Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA)
>added two onerous and costly amendments to the bill. Rep. Bereuter is
>currently working with the Parks Subcommittee staff to introduce a good,
>clean bill by the end of June.
>   Please write to your Congress Members in support of the American
>Discovery Trail. Tell them you'd like a bill passed by Congress this
>year which creates the national discovery trail category and designates
>the ADT as the first trail in that category.
>            ***************
>House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee:
>Chairman Ralph Regula
>Interior Appropriations Subcommittee
>B-308 Rayburn HOB
>Washington, DC 20515
>Ranking Member Norm Dicks
>Interior Appropriations Subcommittee
>1016 Longworth HOB
>Washington, DC 20515
>
>Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee:
>Chairman Slade Gorton
>Interior Appropriations Subcommittee
>131 Dirksen Senate Building
>Washington, DC 20510
>Ranking Member Robert Byrd
>Interior Appropriations Subcommittee
>123 Hart Senate Building
>Washington, DC 20510
>
>To call your Member of Congress:
>US Capitol Switchboard 
>(202) 224-3121
>To write your Senator:
>The Honorable ________________ 
>United States Senate
>Washington, DC  20510
>To write your Representative:
>The Honorable ________________
>US House of Representatives
>Washington, DC  20515
>To locate your Member on-line:
>http://congress.org/
>To track legislation:  
>http://thomas.loc.gov/
>
>
>Mary Margaret Sloan
>Vice President
>American Hiking Society
>1422 Fenwick Lane
>Silver Spring, MD  20910
>(301)565-6704 x113
>mmsloan@americanhiking.org
>(http://www.americanhiking.org)
>
>
>
Nancy DuPont, Executive Director
Heritage Trails
1350 Castle Rock Road
Walnut Creek, CA 94598

Our Mission: To preserve and protect trails and answer the question, "Where
are you going to ride your horses, and where are you going to keep them."
Telephone (925)937-7661 FAX (925) 943-7431


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