From: alra@governance.net Subject: Invasive Species Congressional Alert – Act Now! Land Rights Network American Land Rights Association PO Box 400 – Battle Ground, WA 98604 Phone: 360-687-3087 – Fax: 360-687-2973 E-mail: alra@landrights.org or alra@governance.net Web Address: http://www.landrights.org Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE – Washington, DC 20003 Invasive Species Congressional Alert – Act Now! If you like the Endangered Species Act, you’ll love the Invasive Species Act. The Senate is currently debating the Highway bill (S. 732) and could vote on it any day now. As we’ve reported before, S. 732 contains Invasive Species language that could open the door to a property rights nightmare even worse than the Endangered Species Act. Call both of your Senators NOW and tell them to take ALL Invasive Species language out of the Highway bill! This is URGENT. Call the Senate Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senators by name. Section 166 of the Highway bill is titled, “Control of invasive plant species and establishment of native species.” This section gives the federal government control over which plant species can be planted along highways. Make no mistake. This is the camel’s nose under the tent. A MAJOR new radical environmental land-use/land grab agenda will become LAW. Section 166 MUST BE TAKEN OUT OF THE SENATE HIGHWAY BILL! Imagine the Endangered Species Act on steroids. Now multiply its devastating effect on property rights one-hundred fold. That should give you a pretty good idea of what Invasive Species legislation will mean for property owners in every state, county, and city in this nation. Invasive Species is the radical greens’ key to controlling every square inch of land in the United States. And the Senate Highway bill is the just the beginning. This nightmare all began when Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13112 in 1999, creating an “Invasive Species Council” to monitor and control “alien species.” What are alien species? According to Clinton’s Order: “Alien species means, with respect to a particular ecosystem, any species, including seeds, eggs, spores, or other biological material capable of propagating that species, that is not native to that ecosystem.” Most agricultural crops and animal species clearly fall within the definition of “alien.” Domesticated pets, many houseplants, and Kentucky bluegrass used in most lawns and golf courses are already defined as alien species. Indeed, this is all the greens and their allies in the federal government need to control all land in the U.S. Invasive Species Talking Points: -----Major environmental legislation needs full debate on its own merits. Don’t slip it in the backdoor of the highway bill -----Use highway money to build roads. Don’t misuse it on restoration of native ecosystems. -----Don’t give the Federal Highway Administration any excuse to condemn useful nonnative plants as “invasive species” -----Don’t codify a totally subjective definition of “invasive species” as “nonnative likely to cause harm to the environment”. If this definition is codified, it can easily be applied to plants on your own property and you will have to go to court to defend yourself! Act NOW! Call your Senators today, tomorrow, and next week! * Action to Take * 1. Call both of your Senators NOW and tell them to take ALL Invasive Species language out of the Highway bill! Most importantly, tell them that Section 166 (that section is titled: “Control of invasive plant species and establishment of native species”) MUST GO! Call the Senate Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senators by name. 2. If you can’t call your Senators (a phone call is the most effective means at this point) then go to http://capwiz.com/landsense/dbq/officials/ to easily find your Senators’ E-mail and fax info. Again, tell your Senators: “No Invasive Species language in the Highway bill! Section 166 MUST GO!” ***Do you want to help spread the word and get more people involved? Do you have a friend or associate who you think would value receiving alerts from American Land Rights? Please write to us and put subscribe in the subject line. Having them write to us is even better. Please forward this message as widely as possible. -- To unsubscribe from this mailing list; please visit http://governance.net and enter your email address.