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Issues & Action
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Issues & Action
Our Priorities
2011 Public Policy Priorities
Our Mission
Imagine a spring without robins, a summer without hummingbirds, or a fall without rivers of hawks streaming overhead on their long journey south. These winged harbingers of the changing season herald important information about our changing environment. Audubon Connecticut knows that the health of our bird populations is a key indicator of the overall health of our environment. For this reason, we are dedicated to protecting birds, other wildlife and their habitats using science and conservation, education, and legislative advocacy. We carry out this work for the benefit of people and the earth's biological diversity. Through our network of nature centers, protected wildlife sanctuaries, and local, volunteer chapters, we seek to connect people with nature and inspire the next generation of conservationists.
For Birds and People
In this time of fiscal austerity, our public policy efforts must focus even more diligently on ensuring a sustainable environment for birds and people through habitat protection, restoration and enhancement. Healthy, available habitat is the key to survival for birds. If we don't act now, our pristine tidal marshes, unbroken swaths of woodlands, and swells of whispering grasslands will continue to vanish, taking with them the diversity of birds and wildlife that make Connecticut the place where we all want to live and raise our families. Though the battle to protect our natural heritage is ongoing, in this difficult economic climate, we must adapt our strategies to match the resources at hand. For 2011, our legislative priorities are to:
Improve Our Policy - It Doesn't Cost a Dime
To ensure that state investments - - no matter how limited - - benefit wildlife and habitat, we are actively seeking no cost or low cost opportunities to better integrate these priorities into state policy. To develop and strengthen statutory protections that benefit birds, wildlife and habitats, we will work to introduce and support state legislation such as the Community Green Fund, creation of a voluntary, statewide protected lands registry, increase awareness of state and federal endangered species, and explore options to enable tax breaks for managing land for wildlife under Public Act 490. We will also support relevant federal legislation as appropriate.
Ensure Sound Health
To support water quality and habitat conservation efforts in Long Island Sound, an Estuary of National Significance and a vibrant engine for our regional economy, we are leading advocacy efforts on behalf of key federal funding for the Sound, promoting continued bond funding for the state Clean Water Fund, and promoting a state LIS Caucus in Hartford.
Save the Avian Superhighway
To ensure a network of protected habitat areas statewide, we are seeking federal and state funding for land acquisition and other conservation efforts at recognized Audubon Important Bird Areas and other key sites, including Long Beach West, Pleasure Beach, and Griswold Airport adjacent to Hammonasset Beach State Park, as well as other sites eligible for inclusion in the Stewart B. McKinney and Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuges.
Go Wild Connecticut
To maintain wildlife and habitat restoration programs in Connecticut, we are advocating for the restoration of state funding for DEP Wildlife programs through the Long Island Sound and Wildlife Conservation License Plate fund, and to ensure federal funding through State Wildlife Grants Program. We are also working to defend Community Investment Act funding for local open space projects from further diversions of those monies toward deficit mitigation.
Defend the Defenders
To maintain the state's ability to act on behalf of a sustainable environment, we are working to ensure that adequate resources (including funding) are provided for conservation, regulation and enforcement in our state. We will advocate for funding for the DEP and will work with that agency to make sure needed reforms enacted during the last Session do not compromise environmental health.
Safeguard the Safety Net
To ensure existing statutory protections that benefit birds, wildlife and habitats are not weakened during these difficult economic times, we will oppose efforts to roll back existing protections or enact harmful legislation. In doing so, we will work both independently and in partnership with other organizations to reach our goals.
Make Better Decisions
To increase our ability to make good decisions about land use and state and/or federal investments - for example, siting of wind turbines in the Northwest Hills or energy transmission lines in Long Island Sound or identifying priority land acquisitions for state and/or federal grant funding - we must improve our understanding of the statewide distributions and conservation status of priority species. To this end, we are seeking non-state funding to initiate a natural resource atlas and monitoring project for Connecticut, and promoting low cost and no cost approaches to increasing our knowledge base regarding the state's wildlife and habitats.
Past Priorities:
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