Bluestem Action Alert for October 2004

 

The wetlands bill is back with a new number and a fresh chance to move through the General Assembly this fall.  We need to make our voices heard on this issue BEFORE the election on November 2, if possible, so that we can obtain commitments to vote for this overwhelmingly popular bill while politicians still have some concern for the will of their constituents.

 

Since the wetlands bill failed to pass in the Senate last spring by a mere five votes, the bill will have to start over.  That means getting it passed in both the Illinois House and the Illinois Senate.

 

Please call, email and/or write both your Illinois senator and Illinois representative and ask them to cosponsor HB 913, a bill to save Illinois’ isolated wetlands.

 

Be sure to leave your name and address so they know you are a constituent.

 

We are asking legislators to cosponsor rather than simply vote for HB 913 because cosponsoring is a harder commitment to break.

 

To find who your Illinois senator and representatives are or access their phone and email information, put your address into this link; a click on your legislator’s name, once you have found it, provides contact information: http://www.elections.state.il.us/dls/pages/DLSAddresscrit.asp

 

Two years ago, we were able to get a wetlands bill through the Illinois House because representatives were overwhelmed by calls from you, the constituent.  They were forced to ignore special interest groups because of the sheer numbers of constituent calls.  We need to do this again. We need at least 30 calls for each legislator. 

 

Please email me, Linda Sullivan, at lsullivan23@hotmail.com when you make your calls and tell me who you called or wrote.  I am keeping track to see if we can get 30 calls or letters for each legislator.

 

You may leave a simple message: Please cosponsor HB 913, a bill to save isolated wetlands. But, especially if you are writing or emailing, you may want to tell your legislators why you care about wetlands.  Some reasons you may want to use are:

  • Many families, homes and businesses were devastated by floods last spring.  Wetlands act as a sponge, absorbing water that would otherwise cause great damage, a single acre absorbing 1.5 million gallons of flood water.  Flooding causes about $39 billion in damages to northeastern Illinois in an average year, according to National Weather Service data.  The floods of 2004 cost much more. If your basement floods or someone close to you has a basement that floods, tell your legislators.
  • More than one third of threatened and endangered species rely solely on wetlands for habitat. An additional 20 percent depend on wetlands for part of their life cycle. Ephemeral wetlands are crucial to the survival of amphibians and migrating birds. Losing wetlands can wipe out entire populations of frogs.
  • Wetlands filter water pollution. A study done on the Des Plaines River measured water pollution upstream and downstream of wetlands along the river. It found that water pollution was measurably less after running through wetlands.  If you have a specific reason to be concerned about water pollution (you are a fisherman, drink well water, are concerned about specific diseases, be sure to tell your legislator.
  • Wetlands bring money to the Illinois economy. A study done by the US Fish and Wildlife Service found that $6.6 million was spent in Illinois bird watching, and photographing and feeding Illinois wildlife in 1996 alone.  If you participate in one of these activities, tell your legislator.

 

For more information on HB 913, call the Chapter office at 312-251-1680 or use this link to the Illinois Sierra Club homepage and click on legislation: http://illinois.sierraclub.org/

Sierra Club is sponsoring a Lobby Day on Nov. 9.  Let the Chapter office know if you wish to participate.

 

Thanks you for all the work you do!

 

Linda Sullivan