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Advocacy
Not everyone has time, or is able, to do field work, but you can still help enormously by contacting your legislators about habitat and environmental issues that are important to you.
If lawmakers do not hear from you, they have no way of knowing that you care about issues affecting birds, wildlife and their habitats. One legislator told me that often, the only people she hears from are corporate lobbyists or those who oppose an issue. If no citizens contact her in favor of an issue, she can only assume they don’t care! In that case, guess who she is going to support? She also said that it means so much when a constituent contacts her. Your voice has outsized importance because it is a personal counter to constant corporate pressure.
This is easy to do!
Use the links below to find out who your congressional representatives are:
Contact your senator and representatives
Find your State district here: https://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/districtfinder
and your Federal district here: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/map
Next send your senator and representative an email, a letter, or give their office(s) a call. If you call, you will be talking with a friendly staff aide who will relay your concern to your legislator. They will ask you for your name and city or district.
Write down your views about general concerns or pending legislation affecting birds, pollinators or other wildlife and their habitats. Be specific, brief and polite. For example, say something like “This is [name] and I live in [city]. I am very concerned about keeping Minnesota rivers and lakes free of pollution. Please support [Gov. Dayton’s buffer bill or whatever]. Include the bill # if possible. These can be found at Bill search and status for House bills and for Senate bills Bill search and status.
Alternatively, it also helps to write letters to the editor of your local paper about your concerns and preferences. Be brief, specific and polite. Use Spellcheck!
A wealth of information about your legislators, pending bills and summaries of bills, etc. can be found at: http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/ or http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/
One important caveat: Petitions and mass emails of the kind found at online activism sites do not capture most legislators’ attention until they number in the thousands (for state) or tens of thousands (for Federal). A personal email, FB post or tweet is far more impressive to them because you did more than simply click on a form letter to contact them. They are keenly aware of the difference.
So go ahead and sign the mass requests, but know that your personal voice is far more powerful and effective. Get active and make a difference!
Prepared by Ruthann Yaeger, ZVAS Conservation & Advocacy chair.
contactZVAS@ZumbroValleyAudubon.org
There are many ways to learn about current issues, here are some good sites: http://mn.audubon.org/take-action-mn and http://minnesotaikes.org/Izaak/current-issues.html
Not everyone has time, or is able, to do field work, but you can still help enormously by contacting your legislators about habitat and environmental issues that are important to you.
If lawmakers do not hear from you, they have no way of knowing that you care about issues affecting birds, wildlife and their habitats. One legislator told me that often, the only people she hears from are corporate lobbyists or those who oppose an issue. If no citizens contact her in favor of an issue, she can only assume they don’t care! In that case, guess who she is going to support? She also said that it means so much when a constituent contacts her. Your voice has outsized importance because it is a personal counter to constant corporate pressure.
This is easy to do!
Use the links below to find out who your congressional representatives are:
Contact your senator and representatives
Find your State district here: https://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/districtfinder
and your Federal district here: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/map
Next send your senator and representative an email, a letter, or give their office(s) a call. If you call, you will be talking with a friendly staff aide who will relay your concern to your legislator. They will ask you for your name and city or district.
Write down your views about general concerns or pending legislation affecting birds, pollinators or other wildlife and their habitats. Be specific, brief and polite. For example, say something like “This is [name] and I live in [city]. I am very concerned about keeping Minnesota rivers and lakes free of pollution. Please support [Gov. Dayton’s buffer bill or whatever]. Include the bill # if possible. These can be found at Bill search and status for House bills and for Senate bills Bill search and status.
Alternatively, it also helps to write letters to the editor of your local paper about your concerns and preferences. Be brief, specific and polite. Use Spellcheck!
A wealth of information about your legislators, pending bills and summaries of bills, etc. can be found at: http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/ or http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/
One important caveat: Petitions and mass emails of the kind found at online activism sites do not capture most legislators’ attention until they number in the thousands (for state) or tens of thousands (for Federal). A personal email, FB post or tweet is far more impressive to them because you did more than simply click on a form letter to contact them. They are keenly aware of the difference.
So go ahead and sign the mass requests, but know that your personal voice is far more powerful and effective. Get active and make a difference!
Prepared by Ruthann Yaeger, ZVAS Conservation & Advocacy chair.
contactZVAS@ZumbroValleyAudubon.org
There are many ways to learn about current issues, here are some good sites: http://mn.audubon.org/take-action-mn and http://minnesotaikes.org/Izaak/current-issues.html