An important message from Robert Redford

[Guest guest]

> Fw: An important message from Robert

> Redford

> Tue, 13 Jul 2004 17:07:10 -0400

>

> Please speak out for this cause. It's easy. Just

> . The

> letter is already written, just fill in the form and

> send. The wildlife is

> depending on you.

> Thanks,

>

 

> Tuesday, July 13, 2004 10:17 AM

> An important message from Robert Redford

>

>

> > Dear NRDC Member,

> >

> > I wanted you to know that the Bush administration

> is using the recent rise

> in

> > gasoline prices as a pretext to sacrifice one of

> America's greatest

> natural

> > treasures -- the Western Arctic Reserve of Alaska

> -- to massive oil

> development.

> >

> > We have a very narrow window in which to block

> this corporate-sponsored

> raid on

> > our natural heritage. Over the next 30 days, the

> Bush administration is

> taking

> > public comments on its plan to put 96 percent of

> the reserve's

> wildlife-filled

> > northeast region on the auction block.

> >

> > I am asking you and hundreds of thousands of

> others to join me in flooding

> the

> > Bush administration with messages of protest over

> the next critical weeks.

> >

> > Please do your part by going to

> >

>

http://www.savebiogems.org/westernarctic/takeaction.asp?RR0407

> > and sending an electronic message telling the

> Bureau of Land Management to

> > withdraw its destructive plan and to permanently

> protect the reserve's

> world-

> > class wildlife habitats.

> >

> > Then please forward my message to as many people

> as you can.

> >

> > The Western Arctic Reserve may be less well-known

> than the Arctic National

> > Wildlife Refuge -- which lies directly to the east

> -- but its wildlife

> > populations are every bit as unique, spectacular

> and endangered.

> >

> > I am especially concerned about the Western Arctic

> Reserve's Teshekpuk

> Lake

> > region -- one of the most important tundra-wetland

> ecosystems left on our

> > planet. This vast network of coastal lagoons, deep

> water lakes, sedge

> grass

> > meadows and braided streams provides the critical

> calving grounds for the

> > 45,000-member Teshekpuk Lake caribou herd.

> >

> > Thirty percent of all Pacific black brant also

> take refuge in these safe

> and

> > remote wetlands, remaining flightless while they

> replace their old

> feathers.

> > Steller's eiders, northern pintails, tundra swans

> and rare yellow-billed

> loons

> > are just a few of the other amazing species that

> flock to Teshekpuk Lake

> to

> > nest, free from disturbance. Come fall, some of

> these birds will migrate

> as far

> > south as Antarctica.

> >

> > Polar bears roam the coastal areas of Teshekpuk

> Lake from summer to early

> > winter. And people are counting on the lake for

> survival as well. The

> Inupiat

> > Eskimos have subsisted here in balance with nature

> for at least 8,000

> years by

> > following the herds of caribou.

> >

> > Incredibly, the Western Arctic has never been

> granted full federal

> protection.

> > That's because it was set aside as the " National

> Petroleum Reserve-Alaska "

> > nearly a century ago. But Congress also stipulated

> that this oil field be

> > tapped only in time of dire national need.

> >

> > Our government kept oil rigs out of the Western

> Arctic Reserve even during

> the

> > darkest days of World War II and the oil embargo

> of the 1970s. As a

> result,

> > most of the reserve has remained pristine -- its

> primeval beauty unmarred

> by

> > roads, oil rigs or other signs of human

> interference.

> >

> > Interior secretaries since the 1970s have

> recognized the need for special

> > protection in the Teshekpuk Lake area. But if the

> Bush administration gets

> its

> > way, Teshekpuk Lake will soon be stripped of most

> of those protections and

> sold

> > to the highest bidder.

> >

> > And for what? Drilling in the Western Arctic would

> have no effect on gas

> prices

> > at the pump. Its oil would take years to get to

> market and would never

> equal

> > more than one or two percent of America's oil

> supply -- a tiny drop in the

> > bucket of our nation's oil consumption.

> >

> > Only one group would benefit from destroying the

> Western Arctic: the oil

> > giants. Meanwhile, they would turn one of the

> planet's most fragile homes

> for

> > Arctic wildlife into an industrial zone of

> pipelines, producing wells and

> > contaminated waste sites.

> >

> > The Western Arctic Reserve is supposed to be an

> energy savings account of

> last

> > resort. A recent poll shows that the vast majority

> of Americans would

> rather

> > save oil and lower gas prices by adopting tougher

> fuel economy standards

> for

> > our cars and trucks.

> >

> > Please join me in telling the Bush administration

> to follow the cleaner

> and

> > more self-reliant path of fuel efficiency -- and

> to put Teshekpuk Lake and

> > other critical habitats off limits to the oil

> industry.

> >

> > Please go to

> >

>

http://www.savebiogems.org/westernarctic/takeaction.asp?RR0407

> > and tell the Bush administration to withdraw its

> destructive plan. And

> remember

> > to forward my message to your friends, colleagues

> and family.

> >

> > This fight represents one of our very last chances

> to preserve untrammeled

> > wilderness as we first found it. Let's speak with

> one voice and stop this

> > senseless attack on one of the world's greatest

> sanctuaries for Arctic

> > wildlife. Thank you.

> >

> > Sincerely,

> >

> > Robert Redford

> > Board of Trustees

> > Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

> >

> > . . .

> >

> > Note: If you have any questions about this

> message, please write to us at

> > membership

> >

> > . . .

> >

> >

>

>

>