[Green] Fwd: Fw: [EXTERNAL] DUE JULY 30: Sign Infrastructure Support Letter to Legislators

Tue Jul 27 15:01:29 CDT 2021

I would appreciate approval from Green Sanctuary for me to sign on behalf
in support of this effort, or for someone else to sign doesn't matter to me.

Thanks,

Vic

When the Earth, its products, its creatures become his concern, man is
caught up in a cause greater than his own life and more meaningful. Only
when man loses himself in an endeavor of that magnitude does he walk and
live with humility and reverence.   - William O. Douglas

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Elam, Victor <victor_elam at fws.gov>
Date: Tue, Jul 27, 2021 at 3:57 PM
Subject: Fw: [EXTERNAL] DUE JULY 30: Sign Infrastructure Support Letter to
Legislators
To: Vic Elam <elamva4 at gmail.com>

Victor Elam (he, him)
Refuge Manager
Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge
3982 Waverly Road
Williamstown, WV 26187
victor_elam at fws.gov
304-375-2923 X125
Cell: (620) 203-8514

I work and live in the traditional homelands of the Shawnee, Potawatomi,
Delaware, Peoria, Seneca, Wyandotte, Ojibwe, Cherokee, and Miami peoples.

"When the Earth, its products, its creatures become his concern, man is
caught up in a cause greater than his own life and more meaningful.  Only
when man loses himself in an endeavor of that magnitude does he walk and
live with humility and reverence."    -William O. Douglas-

------------------------------
*From:* Harry <hstone at orsanco.org>
*Sent:* Tuesday, July 27, 2021 2:15 PM
*To:* Elam, Victor <victor_elam at fws.gov>
*Subject:* [EXTERNAL] DUE JULY 30: Sign Infrastructure Support Letter to
Legislators

* This email has been received from outside of DOI - Use caution before
clicking on links, opening attachments, or responding.  *

The Infrastructure Bill is coming together, but we must tell legislators to
ensure the Ohio River Basin is included in ecological restoration FUNDING
Organizational Support for Ecological Restoration for the Ohio River Basin

As the infrastructure bill is coming together, there is much being included
that is supportive of the *Plan of the Ohio River Basin*. Environmental
remediation and resilience references the Great Lakes and Everglades - but
we need to let our legislators know that the Ohio River Basin also has
significant challenges. We are asking our legislators to ensure that
funding for remediation and resilience includes robust funding for the Ohio
River Basin.

Your organization is invited to sign on to a letter of support for such
funding (see letter below). If you have authority to give approval for such
endorsement, please click *HERE
<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fohioriverbasinalliance.us18.list-manage.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3Def05f9dcf42394c9fba087edf%26id%3Dbb37c31f72%26e%3D464ec2f091&data=04%7C01%7Cvictor_elam%40fws.gov%7C01c84c9714b64d8b12fd08d9512aabe7%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C637630065976587074%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=0AeV4iCW%2BwxiEO%2B%2B%2BvHsGP1pZXePT8jMpWUH6lLDYPg%3D&reserved=0>*
to be a signatory. Because this appears to be coming together quickly in
Congress - please act immediately!

*RESPONSES ARE DUE FRIDAY, JULY 30!*
(By the end of the business day)

*The Letter to Congress:*

Dear [House and Senate Congressional Leadership]

We, the undersigned organizations, urge Congress to include investments in
Ohio River restoration in an infrastructure package. Investments in the
Ohio River ecosystem will help protect the drinking water for millions of
people, reduce flooding to vulnerable communities, improve public health,
and put local people to work now while setting the stage for long-term
economic prosperity in local towns and cities.

The Ohio River Basin holds great cultural, environmental, and economic
importance to the nation and the 14-state region that includes Alabama,
Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York,
North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The Ohio River and its Cumberland River and Tennessee River tributaries
provide drinking water to more than 12 million people, and over 25 million
people in the region depend on the area’s water resources for their health,
jobs, recreation, and quality of life. In addition, the Ohio River Basin
drives 35 percent of the nation’s waterborne commerce and supports an
estimated $43 billion in commodities transport. The region’s
extraordinarily biodiversity serves as the foundation for a vibrant outdoor
recreation economy that includes fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing,
hiking, camping, paddling, swimming, and other activities.

Since 1948, ORSANCO and its member states have cooperated to improve water
quality in the Ohio River Basin. Other Basin states independently joined
the effort to protect major tributaries like the Cumberland and Tennessee
Rivers. Unfortunately, the Ohio River, and many of its tributaries and
surrounding waters still face serious environmental threats that require
increased funding to continue progress. Pollution and environmental harm
from legacy mining waste, cancer-causing emerging contaminants, habitat
destruction, sewage contamination, nutrient pollution feeding harmful algal
blooms, and invasive species have led to source water threats, fish
consumption advisories, and restrictions on recreation. Many of the most
vulnerable people – low-income people, people of color, and Indigenous
people – face disproportionate impacts.

The good news is that people in the region are coming together to address
these serious threats. In the fall of 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers released a collaborative regional plan to address economic
challenges and environmental threats to the region. The “Plan of the Ohio
River Basin 2020-2025” provides a roadmap towards ecosystem restoration,
economic recovery, and community revitalization. Among its recommendations
are investments to upgrade traditional infrastructure, including locks and
dams and drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater facilities, as well as
funding to restore and protect the natural landscape so that it can help
provide clean drinking water, reduce flooding, and support a strong outdoor
recreational economy. The strategy calls for the crafting of a restoration
and protection plan for the Ohio River Basin, which is currently being
undertaken by the Ohio River Basin Alliance, a multi-stakeholder group of
state and federal agencies, colleges and universities, non-governmental
organizations, businesses, and industry. A final Ohio River Basin
restoration plan is set to be released in the summer of 2022.

The restoration plan will provide a comprehensive assessment of work needed
to restore and protect the Ohio River Basin and will lay the foundation for
strategic federal investments to address the serious environmental threats
to the Ohio River, similar to those provided to other iconic U.S. aquatic
habitats like the Chesapeake Bay, Florida Everglades, Great Lakes, and Gulf
of Mexico. These federal investments put local people to work, make
drinking water safer, increase community resilience, improve public health,
make fish and wildlife more abundant, and make recreational opportunities
more accessible. These targeted investments also create new jobs and
business opportunities, expand waterfront development, increase home
values, and grow hometown pride. We believe that a similar state and
federal partnership in the Ohio River Basin will lead to similar positive
outcomes for the environment and economy.

Congress should jumpstart this effort by providing support for restoration
and protection of the Ohio River in any forthcoming infrastructure or
economic recovery bill. Investments to restore and protect the Ohio River
Basin ecosystem go hand-in-hand with investments to restore traditional
drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Restoring wetlands, forests,
and habitat allows the natural landscape to absorb, filter, and reduce
storm water and flooding. These actions lessen the burden on traditional
water infrastructure, improve water quality, and reduce the risk of
property damage and impacts to community health. Indeed, many water
utilities are already investing in so-called nature-based infrastructure to
help meet clean water goals. These investments in ecosystem resiliency also
save money by reducing water treatment costs, regulating the timing of
water flows, and reducing wear and tear on existing infrastructure.
Investments to restore the Ohio River Basin ecosystem will complement
efforts to tackle the $269 billion need over 20 years to repair and upgrade
traditional drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in the 14-state
region.

Local, state and federal partners have been collaborating on successful
restoration projects in the Ohio River Basin for years through programs
like the Ohio River Basin Fish Habitat Partnership Program to remove old
unsafe dams, restore shoreline habitat, reduce farm runoff, and confront
other threats like acid mine drainage. Federal investments from this
program and others are producing results in local communities, but serious
threats remain. Unfortunately, current funding levels are not sufficient to
confront the enormity of the threats at hand. Increasing federal
investments now to bolster Ohio River restoration efforts will help the
region address long-standing environmental challenges, as well as emerging
threats such as toxic PFAS chemicals, new forms of plastic pollution, and
emerging contaminants. Federal investments will also help communities
become more resilient to a warming climate that is exacerbating runoff
pollution, sewage contamination, and flooding. It is paramount that these
issues be tackled with urgency. Delay in addressing these serious threats
will only make the problems worse and more expensive to solve.

To that end, we stand ready and willing to work with Congress to restore
and protect this iconic resource and to make Ohio River Basin restoration
and protection a national priority. We have common-sense solutions to
protect the drinking water, public health, jobs, and quality of life for
the more than 25 million people in the Ohio River region. We encourage you
to include robust funding for Ohio River Basin restoration and protection
in any federal infrastructure package.

Sincerely,

SIGNATORIES
If your organization would like to be a signatory on this letter to
Congress, *please complete this Google Form*
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by
COB Friday, July 30 and ORBA will add you to the list of signatories.

Your organization can help make a tremendous difference in our ecosystem
and economy. Thank you.
*Copyright © 2021 Ohio River Basin Alliance, All rights reserved.*
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

*Our mailing address is:*
Ohio River Basin Alliance
5735 Kellogg Ave
Cincinnati, OH 45230-7112
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Ohio River Basin Alliance · 5735 Kellogg Ave · Cincinnati, OH 45230-7112 ·
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