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Take Action: Ask Local Organizations
to Support HR3644
Bay-Watershed
Education and Training (B-WET) Regional Program
and National Environmental Literacy Grant Program Act
Please take a moment to ask your local schools, aquarium, wildlife
groups and other organizations to lend their support to HR 3644.
A sample letter follows, or use your own words.
Thank You!
October, 2009
Dear xxxxxxxx,
We write to respectfully request that you join Representatives
Lois Capps, Vernon Ehlers, Sam Farr and Madeleine Bordallo as
a cosponsor of the Bay-Watershed Education and Training Regional
Program and National Environmental Literacy Grant Program Act
(HR. 3644). This bill authorizes and strengthens the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s existing Bay-Watershed
Education and Training (B-WET) and Environmental Literacy Grants
(ELG) programs.
Over the past five years, these two NOAA education programs
have been essential to advancing ocean, atmospheric, and environmental
literacy in the United States, a major goal of the U.S. Commission
on Ocean Policy Report and the U.S. Ocean Action Plan. They
have been well received by the ocean and environmental literacy
communities, and in fact, ELG requests for proposals have been
oversubscribed by a factor of 10.
The ELG program enables NOAA, as the nation's leading expert
on weather, climate and ocean information, to partner with the
nation's top non-profit organizations and educators to put this
information to good use. For example, these grants have enabled
more than 20 million people to gain access to compelling up-to-date
weather, climate and ocean information through the Science on
a Sphere and Ocean Today Kiosk from Alaska to Hawaii to California
to Massachusetts. ELG funds have also allowed the American Association
for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to update climate education
standards that are used to guide science education in classrooms
around the country to reflect state-of-the-art climate science.
In addition, ELG grants to the National Science Teachers Association
have given thousands of teachers access to the most accurate
scientific information on climate, corals and hurricanes.
The B-WET grants programs support environmental education which
promotes locally relevant, experiential learning in the K-12
environment. A fundamental goal of the programs are to demonstrate
how the quality of the watershed affects the lives of the people
who live in it. B-WET programs have now expanded to include
the Chesapeake Bay, California, Hawaii, Pacific Northwest, Gulf
of Mexico and New England, and this bill will add five new regions
as well. BWET awards to state and local education organizations
have provided opportunities to over 125,000 students and 6,200
teachers in 2008 alone.
It is important to now establish these programs in law, consistent
with the education mandates provided to NOAA in both the America
COMPETES Act (PL 110-69, Sec.4002) and the Omnibus Public Land
Management Act (PL 111-11, Sec. 12304). They are vital to NOAA's
ability to execute the educational function of its mission.
They have demonstrated their effectiveness, as well as their
value to stakeholder communities. And as our nation begins to
grapple with the complexities and challenges of a changing climate
(and ocean and landscape), they are timely and highly relevant.
Thank you for your consideration of this request. For questions
about this letter, please contact James Elder, Campaign for
Environmental Literacy (978-526-7768, elder@FundEE.org).
Sincerely,
American Hiking Society (Gregory A. Miller, President)
American Fisheries Society (Gus Rassam, Executive Director)
American Forest Foundation (Tom Martin, President)
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher
Education (Judy Walton, Acting Executive Director)
Association of Zoos and Aquariums (Steve Olson, Vice President)
Chicago Zoological Society/Brookfield Zoo (Stuart D. Strahl,
President and CEO)
Council on Environmental Education (Josetta Hawthorne, Executive
Director)
Earth Day Network (Kathleen Rogers, President)
Earth Force (Lisa Bardwell, President)
Heath Professionals for Clean Air (Bonnie A. New, Director)
National Association for Interpretation (Tim Merriman, Executive
Director)
National Audubon Society (Judy Braus, Vice President for Education)
National Council for Science and the Environment (Peter Saundry,
Executive Director)
National Science Teachers Association (Jodi Peterson, Assistant
Executive Director,
Legislative and Public Affairs)
National Wildlife Federation (Kevin Coyle, Vice President for
Education)
North American Association for Environmental Education (Brian
Day, Executive Director)
Ocean Alliance (Roger Payne, President)
Ocean Conservancy (Vikki Spruill, President and CEO)
Ocean Conservation Research (Michael Stocker, Director)
Ocean Project (Bill Mott, Director)
Project WET Foundation (Dennis Nelson, President and CEO)
Second Nature (Anthony Cortese, President)
Sierra Club (Jacqueline Ostfeld, National Youth Representative)
Student Conservation Association (Dale Penny, President &
CEO)
Tag-A-Giant Foundation (Shana Miller, Director)
The Ocean Foundation (Mark Spalding, President)
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