Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

The following letter was forwarded to the Blurb by John Kelly.

Divers,

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS) needs your help in lobbying for the $29 million dollar budget that President Clinton proposed for the National Marine Sanctuary Program. Attached is a sample letter which includes the issues that need to be addressed.

I will send a solid brass divers buckle to the first 30 divers that send a letter to their local Congressperson, Senator, and copy these letters to the Chairpersons of the Appropriation Committees listed below. Do it to support the Sanctuary and send me a copy of the letters that you sent and I will ship a buckle to you.

Thanks for your help,

David Clayton, Diver Representative
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council
drc@ccnet.com

Sample Letter:

The Honorable Sam Farr
1221 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congressman Farr,

I am writing to urge you to secure adequate funding for the National Marine Sanctuaries program during the Appropriations hearings and to seek a greater percentage of the National Marine Sanctuary program budget for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The National Marine Sanctuary program is drastically under-funded. Realizing this, President Clinton has proposed a $29 million budget for the National Marine Sanctuaries program.

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is the largest Sanctuary (5,328 square miles) in the National Marine Sanctuaries program being 45% larger than the next largest Sanctuary, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Yet the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is financially strapped with an annual budget of only $980,000. This is less than half the budget of the much smaller Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary which has an annual budget of $2,500,000.

I urge you to support President Clinton's proposed $29 million budget for the National Marine Sanctuaries program and to help the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary secure appropriate funding in comparison to other sanctuaries in the system.

Sincerely,

Congress and Senate Contacts:
Honorable Sam Farr
1221 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Honorable Tom Campbell
2442 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Honorable Barbara Boxer
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Honorable Dianne Feinstein
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Appropriations Contacts:
Senate
Honorable Ted Stevens
Chairman, Senate Appropriations Committee
S-128 Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-6025

Honorable Judd Gregg
Chairman, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, Commerce, State, Justice and Judiciary
S-146 Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

House
Honorable C.W. Bill Young
Chairman, House Appropriations Committee
H-218 Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-6015

Honorable Harold Rogers
Chairman, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, State, Justice and Judiciary
H-309 Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20515