afishinado
Moderator
Staff member
From the recent PATU spring newsletter:
There's still time for TU members to help save the Keystone Fund!
Last month, the Pennsylvania Council of TU and 42 chapter co-signatories sent a letter to every member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly urging them to reject the Governor’s proposal to permanently eliminate the Keystone Recreation, Park, and Conservation Fund. This is the primary source of funding for our Coldwater Heritage Program and numerous other programs and projects that benefit coldwater fisheries throughout the state. Getting this letter in the hands of legislators was a significant achievement and we thank those of you who helped make that happen.
But the fight is not over and the Keystone Fund is far from secure. Legislators are just now getting down to brass tacks, and we’ve been encouraged to keep up the fight by letting our voices be heard in a more personal way. Please join us in making that happen by encouraging TU chapter members to reach out directly to their legislators with personal letters.
Handwritten letters are one of the most effective ways to communicate with legislators. We encourage every chapter to take time at their next membership meeting—even just 10 minutes—to write letters to their legislators expressing support for the Keystone Fund.
We would appreciate each chapter providing the envelopes, stamps and paper for each member to write a letter to their legislator. We have not created a uniform letter, but ask that each member write their own letter in their own words. Here are some points that could be addressed in the letter:
*The Governor is proposing to permanently cut the Keystone Recreation, Parks and Conservation Fund (the Keystone Fund).
This is the largest cut to conservation funding in the history of the Commonwealth.
*The Keystone Fund provides over $30 million in funding to state parks, recreational trails and to conserve precious land and water resources through land and conservation easement acquisition, providing innumerable benefits to the Commonwealth’s coldwater fisheries and local economies.
*TU chapters, and the PA TU Council and National TU have been direct beneficiaries of the Fund.
*Part of the funding for Council’s Coldwater Heritage Partnership program comes from the Keystone Fund.
*National TU Eastern Abandoned Mine program is supported in part by the Keystone Fund.
*Each Keystone Fund dollar leverages around $2.28.
*The Keystone Fund was established in 1993 with overwhelming bi-partisan support in a voter referendum and legislative act (48-0 in the PA Senate and a 196-3 vote in the House).
*The Keystone Fund is DCNR’s primary source of funding for recreation and conservation grants, funding over 3,000 projects since it was established.
If you would like more information to provide at your meeting please visitwww.keystonefund.org.
Here is a link to find the legislators in your area,http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/index.cfm?CFID=131743402&CFTOKEN=52949378
There's still time for TU members to help save the Keystone Fund!
Last month, the Pennsylvania Council of TU and 42 chapter co-signatories sent a letter to every member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly urging them to reject the Governor’s proposal to permanently eliminate the Keystone Recreation, Park, and Conservation Fund. This is the primary source of funding for our Coldwater Heritage Program and numerous other programs and projects that benefit coldwater fisheries throughout the state. Getting this letter in the hands of legislators was a significant achievement and we thank those of you who helped make that happen.
But the fight is not over and the Keystone Fund is far from secure. Legislators are just now getting down to brass tacks, and we’ve been encouraged to keep up the fight by letting our voices be heard in a more personal way. Please join us in making that happen by encouraging TU chapter members to reach out directly to their legislators with personal letters.
Handwritten letters are one of the most effective ways to communicate with legislators. We encourage every chapter to take time at their next membership meeting—even just 10 minutes—to write letters to their legislators expressing support for the Keystone Fund.
We would appreciate each chapter providing the envelopes, stamps and paper for each member to write a letter to their legislator. We have not created a uniform letter, but ask that each member write their own letter in their own words. Here are some points that could be addressed in the letter:
*The Governor is proposing to permanently cut the Keystone Recreation, Parks and Conservation Fund (the Keystone Fund).
This is the largest cut to conservation funding in the history of the Commonwealth.
*The Keystone Fund provides over $30 million in funding to state parks, recreational trails and to conserve precious land and water resources through land and conservation easement acquisition, providing innumerable benefits to the Commonwealth’s coldwater fisheries and local economies.
*TU chapters, and the PA TU Council and National TU have been direct beneficiaries of the Fund.
*Part of the funding for Council’s Coldwater Heritage Partnership program comes from the Keystone Fund.
*National TU Eastern Abandoned Mine program is supported in part by the Keystone Fund.
*Each Keystone Fund dollar leverages around $2.28.
*The Keystone Fund was established in 1993 with overwhelming bi-partisan support in a voter referendum and legislative act (48-0 in the PA Senate and a 196-3 vote in the House).
*The Keystone Fund is DCNR’s primary source of funding for recreation and conservation grants, funding over 3,000 projects since it was established.
If you would like more information to provide at your meeting please visitwww.keystonefund.org.
Here is a link to find the legislators in your area,http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/index.cfm?CFID=131743402&CFTOKEN=52949378
