Legislative Action Alert

We sent this action alert to our members yesterday, urging them to call their legislators in Hartford to take action on two important bills:

We need your help to get two important bills passed before the Legislative session in Hartford ends.

The first bill is SB 347, An Act Concerning the State’s Open Space Plan. The bill would make major improvements in the way Connecticut identifies and protects conservation lands. We’ve been calling for many of the changes for several years, in our annual Connecticut State of the Birds reports.

The state Senate passed the bill yesterday, which is great news. But now we need to get the House to vote on the bill.

Please call your local representatives and tell them you want SB 347, An Act Concerning the State’s Open Space Plan, to come up for a vote in the House. And say you want them to vote “yes.”

The second bill is HB 5263, An Act Increasing the Penalty for Poaching. Poaching – that is, illegal hunting on private land – has been a problem at our sanctuaries, including our Grassland Bird Sanctuary in Pomfret. The fine however is merely a slap on the wrist. HB 5263 would increase the fine for poaching to a minimum of $500 and a maximum of $1,000.

HB 5263 passed the House. Please call your local state Senators and ask them to bring HB 5263, An Act Increasing the Penalty for Poaching, up for a vote. And tell them to vote “yes.”

You can find contact information for your Senator or Representative on this page: http://www.cga.ct.gov/maps/townlist.asp

You can learn more about each bill on our Tracking Legislation webpage, here.

Please make the calls! Thank you.

Yours truly,

Milan Bull
Senior Director of Science and Conservation