The Senate may take a final vote on HB2224 on Wednesday, October 3. Please call your Senators ASAP at their Harrisburg offices and tell them to oppose HB2224.
Tell Legislators: Don’t Let Our Parks be Sold for Quick Cash – Oppose HB 2224
HB 2224 would radically reshape Pennsylvania law and, in doing so, make it easy to sell many of our parklands for quick cash. It doesn’t matter that a park has been used and loved for decades or even centuries. The bill would allow a local municipality or county to – depending on the arcane details of how a park was established –undo the park (and all the work that went into creating it) in a single vote.
The Pennsylvania Senate is poised to vote on the bill the week of 10/15. If it passes, it could move with lightning speed to the House for a final vote. Tell your Senator and Representative to oppose HB 2224. Contact them in their district officesTHIS WEEK.
Talking points:
- The severe and unintended consequences for parks far outweigh any benefit that the bill might deliver. The bill needs to go back to the drawing board.
- Parks should be protected from political whims, the settling of political scores and the temptation to sell for quick and easy cash. For centuries parks have had such protections with the law requiring fair and balanced court oversight to prevent the sale of parklands that still serve their public purpose. HB 2224 would toss out this centuries-old law.
- HB 2224 senselessly would set protections for parks based on how they were acquired, not on whether people use or enjoy them. People don’t care how their park was acquired; they do care about its future. Safeguards for parks shouldn’t depend on the method of acquisition decades or centuries ago.
- If there is need to make it easier for boroughs to sell non-parklands — lands not used by the public (for example, parking areas for road equipment or salt domes), park advocates support that. But any legislation should ensure continued protections for parklands, no matter how they came to be parkland.
- HB 2224 has never had a public hearing. It has never been subject to scrutiny by experts in public trust law or park history. The issues should receive such review and scrutiny before further action by the General Assembly.
Notes:
- The Senate amended HB 2224 the week of October 1, making a few minor improvements but failing to adequately address the fundamental flaws and unintended consequences of the bill.
Protect the Keystone Fund, Farm Preservation, Growing Greener, and Other Conservation Investments
Will your call, letter or meeting be the one to make the difference for conservation? It very well could, but you must act now.
Pennsylvania has made tangible and lasting investments in conservation, thanks to the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund and farmland preservation program, both established in 1993, as well as Growing Greener, established in 1999. With these programs, Pennsylvania has been establishing and improving parks and trails, protecting wildlife habitats, preserving productive farms and saving other important green spaces (such as historic battlefields and neighborhood gardens) that define PA communities and that will shape the lives of Pennsylvanians for decades and centuries to come.
These conservation investments could end with a new state budget. One path for balancing the 2014-15 budget would cut the Keystone Fund, farmland preservation and Growing Greener. Legislators are looking everywhere for “easy” cuts, so if we don’t make it clear to them that cutting conservation is unacceptable, we will lose these crucial conservation programs. (We aren’t talking about just one year; the reality in Harrisburg is that a program that is cut for one year is likely cut forever.)
What can you do? Make personal contacts.
Call or write your legislators. NOW. Tell them to protect the Keystone Fund so that it can continue to deliver lasting legacies for conservation and recreation–so that it can create tangible benefits that last for decades, even centuries. Tell them to protect farmland preservation and Growing Greener.
Get the word out to your members, colleagues and friends. Lawmakers need to hear from a broad group of people. They need to understand that it’s about far more than helping a few outdoor enthusiasts or farmers. It’s about the health of our communities and the people in them. It’s about preventing flooding and saving wildlife. It’s about protecting the environment, the agricultural industry, local jobs and real estate values. (See the conservation benefits guides at ConservationTools.org.)
When can you do it?
Budget discussions are intensifying in Harrisburg. Catch legislators in Harrisburg on 6/16 thru 6/19 and in their district offices on 6/20. Don’t wait.
Correction: An email of 6/11/2014 issued by PALTA with subject “Urgent Action Needed – Sign-on Letter” stated that the Governor had suggested the conservation cuts to the House and Senate Republican Caucuses; this statement was based on reports from legislative offices. Upon further investigation, PALTA learned that this characterization is incorrect. What had happened is that the Administration laid out a number of scenarios on how one might achieve a balanced budget given current revenues and no new revenue; this did not involve any endorsement or suggestion that any such scenario should be enacted. PALTA strives for accuracy and fairness in its communications and regrets the misleading characterization.
Sign-on Letter to Defend State Conservation Funding
Please add your organization on to the sign-on letter (download here) and forward this email to all the organizations and businesses you deal with. Deadline to respond is close of business on Friday, June 13.
One path for balancing the state’s 2014-15 budget would cut the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund, farmland preservation and Growing Greener.
We must keep Senators and Representatives from going down this path as the state’s June 30 deadline for enacting a new budget approaches.
To sign on, please send the organization name, a contact person (with email), and their title/position to Rebecca Heath at [email protected].
Correction: An email of 6/11/2014 issued by PALTA with subject “Urgent Action Needed – Sign-on Letter” stated that the Governor had suggested the conservation cuts to the House and Senate Republican Caucuses; this statement was based on reports from legislative offices. Upon further investigation, PALTA learned that this characterization is incorrect. What had happened is that the Administration laid out a number of scenarios on how one might achieve a balanced budget given current revenues and no new revenue; this did not involve any endorsement or suggestion that any such scenario should be enacted. PALTA strives for accuracy and fairness in its communications and regrets the misleading characterization.
Urge Legislature to Protect Wildlife
The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association joined several conservation and environmental organizations in urging the legislature to oppose House Bill 1576 and Senate Bill 1047. These proposals would undermine the ability of our wildlife management agencies to protect the mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians of the Commonwealth.
The current process allows scientists and wildlife management experts from the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission and the Pennsylvania Game Commission to designate state threatened and endangered species, and wild trout streams in the case of the Fish & Boat Commission, on the basis of the best scientific data available. Among our serious concerns with the legislation, House Bill 1576 and Senate Bill 1047 would subject these decisions to an additional, lengthy and cumbersome regulatory review process requiring the approval of persons with no particular expertise in science or wildlife management.
Call your state representative and senator and ask them to oppose HB 1576 and SB 1047 – tell them:
- The current process allows scientists and wildlife management experts from the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission and the Pennsylvania Game Commission to designate state threatened and endangered species, and wild trout streams in the case of the Fish & Boat Commission, on the basis of the best scientific data available.
- This legislation, House Bill 1576 and Senate Bill 1047, would subject decisions related to wildlife management to an additional, lengthy and cumbersome regulatory review process requiring the approval of persons with no particular expertise in science or wildlife management.
- The current methods list species is deliberate, grounded in scientific data, subject to rigorous analysis and review by other scientists and resource professionals, and open to public comment.
- If these bills become law, Pennsylvania could lose $27M in federal funding that would be used for wildlife protection and conservation efforts.
- Protecting species at the state level is the most effective way to prevent their decline and extinction nationally. Effective state conservation programs are critical to avoiding a listing under the federal Endangered Species Act, and the requirements that accompany such a designation.
Please urge the legislature to protect the wildlife of Pennsylvania and oppose House Bill 1576 and Senate Bill 1047.
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