[CT Birds] Help The Red Knot!

[Gene Leganza]

This is a little lengthy, but I just had this email forwarded to me by a
relative who is a member of NJ Audobon. We can all help convince the NJ
Senate to take action to save the Red Knot from extinction. Please read
below:

>From NJ Audobon:

*Great news! * Just yesterday, the Assembly Agriculture and Natural
Resources Committee by a vote of 5-0 forwarded the Horseshoe Crab harvest
moratorium for vote by the full Assembly.  The Committee members include
Assemblymen Doug Fisher, Nelson Albano, John Amadeo, Marcia Karrow, and L.
Harvey Smith.  Special thanks to Assemblymen John McKeon and Doug Fisher are
merited!

*We urgently need your help moving this legislation through the Senate
Environment Committee.*  Please take the time to call Senate committee
members and ask them for them to move the legislation out of committee on
March 10.  Please send an email to conservation at njaudubon.org to report any
conversations that you had including commitments and results.

Please excuse the frequency of these emails, but we are just about to cross
the finish line in saving the Red Knot from extinction!

*Senator Jeff Van Drew* (609)-465-0700 or senvandrew at njleg.org

*Senator John Adler* (856)-489-3442 senadler at njleg.org

*Senator Christopher Bateman* (908)-526-3600  senbateman at njleg.org

*Senator Bob Gordon* (201)-703-9779 sengordon at njleg.org (thank him for being
leader on this!!)

*Senator Bob Smith* (732)-752-0770 sensmith at njleg.org

*Senator Andrew Ciesla* (732)-840-9028 senciesla at njleg.org

*Talking Points*

1) Legislators must move the the horseshoe crab moratorium legislation
(S1331) out of the Senate Environment Committee on March 1.  They should
also commit to co-sponsoring the legislation and voting for the bill when it
comes before the full Senate.

2) The moratorium needs to last until the Delaware Bay shorebird populations
and spawning horseshoe crabs have fully recovered.

3) Due to the overharvest of horseshoe crabs, the Red Knot, a robin-sized
shorebird, is facing extinction and two other shorebirds, Semipalmated
Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones, are facing significant declines.

4)  This legislation is needed since the NJ Marine Fisheries Council vetoed
NJDEP horseshoe crab moratorium regulations.  The NJ Marine Fisheries
Council decision runs counter to the science and sets the Red Knot on a
course towards extinction.

5) The Delaware Bay, our Serengeti, is one of the top four most important
shorebird stopover sites in the world.  We must be responsible stewards for
this gem!  Wildlife watchers visiting the Delaware Bay to view shorebirds
and horseshoe crabs contribute up to $42 million per year to the local NJ
economy.

Thanks for your help to save the shorebirds on the Delaware Bay!

Regards,

Eric Stiles, Vice President for Conservation

New Jersey Audubon Society
[end of NJ Audobon email]

Though we're out-of-staters, perhaps they will be impressed by an
enthusiastic appeal from concerned citizens anywhere. No harm in trying!

-- 
Gene Leganza, Wilton
gleganza at gmail.com