October 24, 1998
1) Common Cause's Public Integrity Report Card
2) Alabama Wildflower Group - Looking for Coordinators
3) Anniston Star Stands Up for the Environment
4) Little River Field School Sign Up
5) Important Dates this Week
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1. Common Cause Releases Report Card - Common Cause
has released their
"Public Integrity Report Card' for the 105th Congress. The
goal of the
report card is to broadly inform the public about who's responsible
for the
demise of campaign reform this year and who deserves appreciation
for their
support of reform. House members who voted for the Shays-Meehan
bill and
Senators who supported the McCain- Feingold bill receive "PASS".
House and
Senate members who voted against these bills receive "Fail".
Representatives
who opposed all anti-reform amendments are on the report card's
"honor roll"
- this is indicated by a (*).
Senate
Richard Shelby - Fail
Jeff Sessions - Fail
House
Sonny Callahan - Fail
Terry Everett - Fail
Bob Riley - Fail
Robert Aderholt - Fail
Bud Cramer - Pass *
Spencer Bachus - Pass
Earl Hilliard - Pass *
To receive additional information about the report card visit
the Common
Cause Website at: http://www.commoncause.org
2. Wildflower Group Looking for Coordinators - The state
of Texas has found
that litter is reduced by 29% as a result of roadside wildflowers.
Accidents
are reduced. Taxpayers save money from mowing and "weed control"
(ie.. no
need for fertilizers and no polluted runoff) costs. The Alabama
Wildflower
Advisory Committee is searching for coordinators to work with
each of the
nine State Department of Transportation Divisions. The goal is
to help
Division and Maintenance Engineers and try to find out what is
needed to
further wildflower planting. If you are interested in this program
please
contact Mary Burks at Alabama Wildflower Watch's project director
at 967-0367.
3. Anniston Star Pro-Environment Editorial - In a well
written October 20th
editorial, "Conservation - Hardly in Alabama" the Anniston
Star "hammered"
the Alabama Congressional delegation for its poor record on the
environment.
Using the recently released League of Conservation Scorecard,
the Star
singled out local Congressman Bob Riley's 0% in 1998. Here are
some tidbits
from the editorial.
"There's no doubt that the regular folks of this state
care a lot about the
natural beauty our state offers. We are a people who like to hunt
and love
to fish. We know our rivers and forests. We like them and want
them
unsullied, rivers full of fish and woods full of deer and turkey
and clean of
trash and polluntants. That is how we are and who we are.
Too bad the leaders we elected to represent us in Washington
do not feel the
same way."
4. Little River Field School 1999 Sign Up - This month
the Little River
Field School ended its 7th season providing quality and innovative
environmental education programs. The field school is a remarkable
collaborative effort between Jacksonville State University, the
Little River
Canyon National Preserve, Alabama State Parks and the Anniston
Museum of
Natural History. Some of last year's workshops included: "Wildflowers
of
Little River Canyon", "Salamanders", "a Frog
Pond Adventure", "Fly Fishing
for Beginners", "Unusual Plants of Lookout Mountain",
"Fish of Little River",
"Geology of Little River Canyon", and many, many more
programs. If you are
interested in receiving information about 1999's schedule of workshops,
please contact Pete Conroy at 256-782-5681 or e-mail him at lrc@jsucc.jsu.edu
5. Important Dates this Week -
Thursday Oct. 29th - EcoFashion Show at Birmingham Southern
College,
benefiting the Southern Environmental Center's Ecoscape Gardens.
For more
info call 205-226-4934.
Friday Oct. 30th - The Talladega Natural Wonders Dedication
at Cheaha State
Park. For more information call the Alabama Environmental Council
at
205-322-3126.
Saturday Oct. 31st - Forever Wild Nominations Due - The deadline
for groups
eligible (Sierra Club, AEC, Audubon, Nature Conservancy, Alabama
Wildlife
Federation) to nominate board members for Forever Wild in the
environmental
and wildlife catagories are due on this date.
Please share BEN with friends and fellow conservationists.
If you have any questions about BEN, contact Pat Byington at
205-226-7739 or pkbyington@aol.com
