Action Alert: NACD Action Alert: State Technical Committee/Local Work Group Interim Final Rules (December 17, 2008 ) - National Association of Conservation Districts

NACD's mission is to serve conservation districts by providing national leadership and a unified voice for natural resource conservation.

Action Alert

Action Requested

Date: updated January 29, 2009

Subject: NACD Economic Stimulus Proposal Update

Contacts Requested
Contact members of the U.S. Senate to vote in support of NACD’s proposed conservation spending in the Senate economic stimulus proposal. The U.S. House of Representatives passed their stimulus yesterday, and the Senate is expected to bring their bill to a floor vote sometime next week.

Background
The House voted yesterday evening to pass their version of the economic stimulus with a vote of 244-188. The Senate has moved their economic stimulus out of committee and will vote on it sometime next week. Leaders in both the House and Senate have maintained that the stimulus will be done by February 13.

Details of the Senate stimulus bill were released yesterday. Specific conservation programs of interest and proposed spending in the Senate bill include:

NRCS Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations – $275 million
NRCS Watershed Rehabilitation - $120 million
FS Wildfire Prevention and Hazardous Fuels Removal – $650 million
- $300 million for wildfire in state and private forests
- $300 million for wildfire prevention on federal Forest Service land
- $50 million for biomass utilization on National Forest lands
BLM Land and Wildland Fire Managment - $150 million
- $135 million for management of lands and resources
- $15 million for wildland fire management

Click here for the full Senate bill.

NACD’s proposal can be viewed here: http://www.nacdnet.org/policy/input/letters/stimulus_proposal.pdf

Contacts
Votes are expected next week in the Senate. Senators can be contacted via email on the web at the following link:

Senate: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

(Please remember when contacting Members of Congress that use of federally owned equipment is prohibited. This includes fax machines, computers, email or any other method which involves federal property)

Questions and Feedback
Please let me know if you have questions regarding contacting your Members of Congress, and please keep us posted if your state or district makes a contact. I can be reached via email at jeremy-peters@nacdnet.org.