I came across this earlier this morning and wanted to pass it along - Please take a minute and make a major difference.

A bill (LRB 0132/2) that restores the appointment authority of the DNR Secretary to the Natural Resources Board is being circulated to all state representatives and senators asking them to sign on as cosponsors. It is critically important that a very large number of legislators sign on to the bill. A similar bill last legislative session had 42 out of 99 State Representatives and 8 out of 32 State Senators as cosponsors. It had strong bipartisan support. The current bill is being circulated on a bipartisan basis by Representatives Spencer Black, Dean Kaufert and Mary Hubler and Senators Bob Wirch and Rob Cowles. If any of these legislators represents you, please thank them for their support.

As soon as possible, please contact your state representative and senator by either email, phone or regular mail and ask that they become cosponsors of LRB 0132/2.

If you don't have their contact information, it can be found at www.legis.state.wi.us

If you are unsure who your state representative or state senator is, look for "Who Represents Me" on the front page of the website.

A similar bill in the last session of the legislature passed the State Senate 21-12. There are indications that we may have greater support in the Senate this year. We know that we had over 50 Assembly cosponsors or legislators that had voted for a similar bill in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and our nose count was that approximately 70 out of 99 representatives would have voted for it on the Assembly floor but it was blocked from coming to a vote. We have been assured that it will be allowed to come up for a floor vote this year.

This is the year we can get this important legislation passed but only if each and every one of us contacts our legislators and asks for their support.

If you can, please let me know how your request is received by your legislators. Please pass this email on to others in your Address Book,

Thank you very much,

George Meyer
Executive Director
Wisconsin Wildlife Federation
608-516-5545 georgemeyer@tds.net