<font color="yellow">Time to start writing and calling again. This is very important...

From the ALRA</font c>

Here are four people being considered
for top level appointments in the Interior and Agriculture Departments.
THREE of them are good news, and ONE is very bad news. Please
participate in the ACTION ITEMS below and encourage President Bush and
his cabinet to pick good people and leave the bad ones out.

Here goes:


For Director of the National Park Service:

YES - GOOD NEWS:

Fran Mainella of Florida. Fran Mainella has been the State Parks Director
for Florida for twelve years, since 1989. She has served under three
governors, both Democrats and Republicans. We spoke with several property
rights activists in Florida who said that Mainella is even handed in her
application of the laws and listens to everyone.

Mainella oversees one of the largest state park systems, including 153
state parks covering over 500,000 acres with an annual budget of $118
million dollars and approximately 1,000 employees. She is a former
president of the National Association of State Park Directors, and has
participated in numerous activities to promote the recreational economy,
including the Tallahassee Convention Bureau, the Florida Tourism Advisory
Committee and others.

She is strongly supported by Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who of course just
happens to be the President's brother. Mainella's resume has definitely
made it to the President's desk. However, she needs support from the
grassroots as well in order to clinch the nomination for Director of the
National Park Service.

ACTION ITEM: Email President Bush and Interior Secretary Norton and tell
them that Fran Mainella is fair and reasonable, respects private property
rights, and supports access by the public to the public lands.

President Bush can be reached at:

President's FAX: (202) 456-2461

president@whitehouse.gov

Phone: (202) 456-1111

Secretary Norton can be reached at: gale_norton@ios.doi.gov (There is an
underscore between the words gale and norton.)

Call her at (202) 208-7351. Her FAX number is (202) 208-5048.


National Park Service - NO - BAD NEWS:

DISASTER ALERT!!!

Bernadette Castro of New York. Castro is the liberal, Rockefeller
Republican land-grabbing choice. Castro is currently the state parks chief
in New York State, and is a favorite of New York Governor George Pataki.
Pataki's term as governor has been marked by total disrespect for private
property rights, and Castro has been his chief "enforcer" in the
Adirondacks and other areas of the state.

Castro has grabbed land whenever and wherever possible and paid property
owners a fraction of its value. She has damaged the tourist economy of
small communities by cutting off access to large areas of public land, and
damaged the tax base by converting private property to government control.

One of her favorite targets is attempting to grab the reversionary rights
of land owners with abandoned railroad lines on their land. Castro was a
leading cheerleader in support of the "CARA" Condemnation and Relocation
Act land grab. And two of her biggest supporters are Laurence
Rockefeller and David Rockefeller, whose foundations finance many of the
most extreme environmentalist outfits.

ACTION ITEM: Let President Bush and Gale Norton know that Land Grabber
Bernadette Castro is NOT OK!!! Respect private property rights!


Secretary Norton can be reached at: gale_norton@ios.doi.gov (There is an
underscore between the words gale and norton.)

Call her at (202) 208-7351. Her FAX number is (202) 208-5048.


President Bush can be reached at:

President's FAX: (202) 456-2461

president@whitehouse.gov

Phone: (202) 456-1111

For Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks - Interior Department:

GOOD NEWS:

James Ridenour of Indiana. Yes, this is the same James Ridenour that was
National Park Service director during the first Bush Administration.
Ridenour did the best he could in a difficult situation. He had to work
with liberal Republicans like Mike Hayden, Mike Brennan, and John Turner.

Ridenour taught park and resource management at Indiana University for the
eight years of the Clinton Administration. His classes were broadcast by
satellite through a TV studio on campus for students at five other major
universities at the same time. He had many guest lecturers from all
points of view to make sure his students got a well rounded vision of
Federal and state park management for the future.

Ridenour is looking to get back into things again, and he will listen to
all sides and be fair and reasonable. He believes that the federal
government already owns plenty of land. He wants to take proper care of
the empire that the federal government already controls, and is not a land
grabber. He is from Indiana, and is a Vietnam Veteran.

ACTION ITEM: Tell President Bush and Gale Norton that there needs to be
solid, experienced people at the upper levels of the Interior Department,
and that James Ridenour will do the job.

E-mail, fax and call President Bush as listed above.

E-mail, fax and call Interior Secretary Gale Norton as listed above.

For the Agriculture Department:

GOOD NEWS: Bill Dennison of California.

Bill Dennison is well qualified to help out fellow Californian Ann Veneman
in several capacities.

Dennison was President of the California Forestry Association for fourteen
years, and served in several other capacities in the forestry business as
well. He is currently a Plumas County, California Supervisor. He
understands forest management issues as well as anyone, and also the fiscal
challenges facing rural counties with limited resources.

Dennison helped communities all over California by supporting the creation
of the CARE Groups. These were community coalitions that included
advocates for forestry, recreation, farming, oil and gas, mining, grazing
and other multiple uses. He worked to get many people in local
communities involved and really set the stage for a terrific movement that
survives to this day.

He has received numerous citations and awards from civic groups ranging
from the Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce to the local library. He has
been endorsed by several northern California congressmen and his fellow
county supervisors. Bill Dennison has helped too many people to count in
many, many ways over the past forty years, and really does deserve our
whole hearted support.

Let Ann Veneman and President Bush know that Bill Dennison is a first class
person and is well qualified for just about anything related to trees and
people!

ACTION ITEM:


*****Fax and e-mail Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman urging her to work
with states, counties, user groups and exploration companies to keep access
to the affected 58 million acres for everyone.

E-mail AND Fax Secretary Ann Veneman

FAX: (202) 720-4732
FAX: (202) 720-5437

Ann.veneman@usda.gov

President Bush can be reached at:

President's FAX: (202) 456-2461

president@whitehouse.gov

Phone: (202) 456-1111

PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR ENTIRE LIST

Forwarding to my club & to the board I am a moderator at!