Sunrise colors as seen from Barnum Point on Camano Island, located in Washington’s Puget Sound.
Use your outside voice for Washington’s outdoors
Conservation works for all of us. Now you can do something for conservation. Speak up today!
Lend your voice! You can speak up for the places you care about, and for the health and safety of the water you drink, the food you eat, the air you breathe and the wildlife you cherish.
Washington’s divided legislature failed to adopt a capital budget during regular session, and there is a big difference between funding priorities in the House and the Senate.
The Nature Conservancy is supporting a capital budget appropriation to address our most challenging environmental threats, protect wildlife habitat and create local parks – all while providing jobs and improving Washington’s economy.
The package, called “Conservation Works,” is our chance to do real work to clean up and restore Puget Sound, restore forests, and improve habitat for wildlife and recreation for us all. It is one of the priorities this year of the broad Environmental Priorities Coalition.
The House version of the Capital budget comes much closer to fully funding this package of proven projects and programs.
Take action. Ask your state senator and representatives to support the House version of the capital budget request for the Conservation Works environmental community priority (see the handy look-up boxes below).
Because some of the most important decisions are made in Olympia each year, your voice can make a difference during the 2013 state legislative session.
Thank you for your willingness to speak up for nature and our quality of life in Washington.
The Nature Conservancy is the lead organization for the Environmental Priorities Coalition’s Conservation Works priority. This Priority promotes fiscally-responsible projects that benefit the entire state by protecting Puget Sound, reducing toxic runoff, expanding recreation opportunities and improving habitat and forest health. These projects will provide jobs while preserving the incredible natural resources that make our state a great place to live, work and raise a family.
For decades, Washingtonians have supported environmental protections that ensure we have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and a high quality of life that attracts talent from around the world. As we move forward in our economic recovery, the state must commit capital funding to win-win projects that create local jobs now, improve the health of our environment, and make our communities more resilient to extreme weather, fire, habitat loss and other threats. The Nature Conservancy promotes fiscally-responsible projects that support local communities and preserve the incredible natural resources that make our state such a great place.
Specifically, the Conservation Works package includes projects that are ready to go and will create local jobs, protect Puget Sound, promote outdoor recreation, and make communities across the state more resilient to catastrophic forest fires, extreme weather and other threats.
These include:
- Protecting Puget Sound and other waterways by restoring habitat and reducing toxic stormwater runoff, which is the number-one water pollution problem in our state.
- Supporting the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, a proven, nationally-recognized grant program that ranks and funds projects in order to protect wildlife habitat, preserve working farms, and provide state and local parks to communities in every corner of Washington State.
- Advancing priority forest health projects that create jobs, make our forests more resilient to costly fires and disease, and improve forest habitat for wildlife.
The Environmental Priorities Coalition, which includes The Nature Conservancy, is supporting two additional priorities this legislative session: Clean Energy Solutions and Toxic-Free Kids and Families. You can get involved with any or all of these efforts through the Environmental Priorities Coalition (http://environmentalpriorities.org).
Contact your representatives. Enter your zip code in the box below; select the “Washington” tab to get state level contact information.
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"Everyone should use their voices, their bodies, their minds to take action on behalf of nature."
-- Keith Schumann |
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Share Your Outside Voice
Spread the word – tell others to speak up for nature to help save the places you love!
Americans Vote "Yes" for Conservation
Americans have voted to improve water quality, protect land, and provide for outdoor recreational activities. Recent Successes
The Nature Conservancy works with a diverse group of partners and coalitions to support public policies that protect our lands and waters so the next generations of Americans can build secure and rewarding lives. Learn About Our Work
