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Grand Canyon Sierra Club News Releases and Action AlertsGOVERNOR HULL IS THREATENING THE HERITAGE FUND PLEASE ACT NOW TO PROTECT ARIZONA'S WILDLIFE AND PARKS Governor Hull's budget proposal would basically zero out dollars to the Heritage Fund in the next two fiscal years. Please call the Governor and your Legislators today and ask them to leave the Heritage Fund alone and to oppose any efforts to divert these important dollars. Please ask the governor to drop this plan to raid the Heritage Fund. You can reach her office at 602-542-4331 or toll free 1-800-253-0883, email her at azgov@azgov.state.az.us, or fax her at 602-542-7601. Any communications should be addressed to:
Please call your legislators and ask them to oppose the governor's proposal. If you're outside the Phoenix area, please call your legislator's office toll free at 1-800-352-8404. In the Phoenix area call (602) 542-3559 (Senate) or (602) 542-4221 (House). Correspondence goes to 1700 W. Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85007-2890. To email legislators use first initial + 7 letters of surname@azleg.state.az.us. If you are not sure who your legislators are, please go to www.vote-smart.org or call the House or Senate information desks. For more information on the legislature go to the web page at www.azleg.state.az.us. (I urge you to call as legislators are getting a great deal of email and yours may get lost in the shuffle. Be sure to include your name and address in any correspondence to your legislator.) In 1990, Arizona voters passed the Heritage Fund into law by a decisive two-to-one margin. The Heritage Fund was designed to provide funding from lottery proceeds for protection of habitat for Arizona's wildlife; support historic preservation and preservation of archaeological sites; create and improve community and state parks; promote an excellent trail system in Arizona; and provide funding for environmental education. The law says that $10 million dollars per year is allocated to State Parks and $10 million dollars per year is allocated to the Game and Fish Department through the Arizona Heritage Fund. Since its passage, thousands of school children throughout the state have benefited from "schoolyard grants" and the creation of dozens of community parks. The Heritage Fund provides lottery dollars for many miles of trails, including the Arizona Trail, and acquisition of important habitat for endangered and threatened species. Kartchner Caverns State Park, has received significant funding from the Heritage Fund. The reason conservationists worked to bring the Heritage Fund to the voters eleven years ago was because year after year Arizona Legislators refused to provide adequate funding for State Parks and for the non-game activities at the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Prior to passage of the Heritage Fund our state parks system ranked as one of the worst in the country. Considering the current legislature's hostility to environmental protection, it is doubtful that they would ever provide funding for any of these activities if there was no Heritage Fund. Please call today. The Legislature will be meeting to decide on these budget matters in a special session on Tuesday November 13th. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (602) 253-8633. Thank you! Sandy Bahr Page updated: 11/08/01 Return to News Releases and Action Alerts page Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, 202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277, Phoenix, AZ 85004, (602) 253-8633 |