San Onofre State Beach Under Attack - Please Act Today
One of California's greatest state parks -- San Onofre State Beach -- will soon be devastated by a multi-lane highway. . . unless you speak up now!
An Orange county toll road agency has voted to approve a short-sighted, development-driven plan that would build a toll road through the middle of California's fifth most popular state park.
It is urgent that you go to http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/sanonofre/action.asp?step=2&item=53611 right now and take action. Tell the toll road agency that you're appalled they voted to run the toll road through San Onofre State Beach, and urge them to find alternative traffic solutions that would not pave over a state park.
San Onofre State Beach is enjoyed by more than two and a half million surfers, swimmers, campers, kayakers, birders, anglers, cyclists and sunbathers every year. (See map.)
The toll road would force 60 percent of the park to close. It would spoil the world-famous Trestles surfing beach and likely cause the abandonment of the 161- unit San Mateo Campground. It would despoil the habitat of endangered wildlife that depends on the park for survival.
We designate state park lands in California to protect them -- not to allow them to be degraded for a major highway. If the toll road proceeds, it will set a horrible precedent that will put all of California's state parks -- including those near you -- in jeopardy.
Go to http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/sanonofre/action.asp?step=2&item=53611 and speak up now in defense of California's state parks!
Thanks for doing your part to protect California's natural heritage.
Tell the Bush administration not to weaken protections for our national parks
America's national parks inspire, amaze and educate hundreds of millions of visitors every year. The National Park Service is the agency responsible for preserving and maintaining the parks, guided by longstanding management policies that give top priority to preserving the parks for the use of future generations.
The Park Service's management policies were last updated in 2001, after a thorough and collaborative seven-year process involving Park Service staff and the American public. But now the Bush administration is trying to hastily rewrite the policies in ways that would no longer consistently give top priority to preserving park resources.
The proposed new policies no longer contain the clear unambiguous statement that park protection should always trump recreation. For example, the proposed revisions would eliminate restrictions against interference with the "atmosphere of peace and tranquility, or the natural soundscapes" of the parks, which would mean more motorized jet skis, off-road vehicles and other noisy recreational vehicles roaring through our parks. Other policies that would be weakened include those that protect wilderness and air and water quality and control damage from livestock.
The Bush administration is accepting public comments on its revised national parks policies through February 18th.
== What to do ==
Send a message, before the February 18th comment deadline, urging the Bush administration not to rewrite the policies for managing our national parks and to keep preserving the parks as the Park Service's top priority.
== Contact information ==
Click here to send an official comment. Or use the contact information and sample letter below to send your own message.Bernard Fagan
National Park Service
Office of Policy, Room 7252
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240
Email: waso_policy@nps.gov== Sample letter ==
Subject: Don't rewrite national park management policies
Dear Mr. Fagan,
I strongly urge you to abandon the rewriting of the national park management policies and keep the 2001 policies intact. The current policies are serving the parks well, and revising them now is unnecessary and would be a burden on the cash-strapped Park Service.
The mission of the National Park Service is to preserve our national parks unimpaired for future generations. The proposed policy revisions dangerously veer away from this mission and could result in devastating harm to our parks by redefining the longstanding legal mandate that clearly prioritizes the preservation of park resources.
The Department of the Interior has given no clear justification for why the proposed policy revisions would eliminate restrictions against interference with the "atmosphere of peace and tranquility, or the natural soundscapes" of the parks, which would make it easier for noisy motorized recreation to expand within park boundaries. Other policies that would be weakened include those that protect wilderness and air and water quality and control livestock damage.
The last time the management policies were revised, it was a thorough, collaborative, seven-year process. The haste in which this rewrite is being conducted is unprecedented, and leaves very little time for the public to review and comment in a thoughtful way.
Again, I urge you to abandon this revision effort and to retain the 2001 management policies as the operative national park management policies.
Sincerely,
[Your name and address]