>From: William Roberts, Director of Strategic Communications
> Rod Fujita, Oceans Program Scientist
> Environmental Defense Fund
>Re: National Ocean Conference
>Date: Saturday June 8, 1998
>
>Next week (June 11 & 12), President Clinton, Vice-President
>Gore, four cabinet secretaries and 500 national and state leaders
>and ocean experts will gather in Monterey for the White House
>sponsored "National Ocean Conference." The goal of the conference
>is to define the problems of our nation's oceans and develop a
>strategy to solve those problems. Please take one minute to send the
>attached letter to the President, calling for decisive action at this
>historic event.
>
>It's been 30 years since the U.S. took a comprehensive look at our
>nation's ocean policies. It is long overdue!
>
>We ask your help to urge the President to take decisive action NOW,
>to restore and manage our ocean resources. Enclosed below is a
letter to
>President Clinton, signed by over 120 non-profit organizations
>representing over one million people, in support of the "Agenda for the
>Oceans."
>
>The "Agenda" is a comprehensive ocean resource management
>plan produced by the Center for Marine Conservation. The full text
of the
>"Agenda" is available online at http://www.cmc-ocean.org.
>
>The "Agenda" identifies the following points as action priorities:
>
>1. PROTECT OCEAN WATER QUALITY & PUBLIC HEALTH
>2. RESTORE AND PROMOTE SIUSTAINABLE MARINE FISHERIES
>3. PROTECT CRITICAL OCEAN HABITATS
>
>Thank you in advance for your support.
Forwarded by Bruce Bernard
bruce_bernard at yahoo.com
Text of letter to President Clinton (cut and paste to new message)
address to:
president at whitehouse.gov
The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
Our country lacks any over arching policy or management
regime for our vast and valuable ocean resources. As a result,
the nation already has suffered serious losses in fisheries, habitat and
water quality.
I urge you to commemorate 1998 as the "Year of the Oceans" (YOTO)
as declared by the United Nations, by adopting an Agenda for the Oceans
to address critical marine conservation issues.
By announcing the adoption of key elements of the Agenda at the
June
11-12 National Ocean Conference in Monterey, California, your
Administration would demonstrate its clear commitment to conserving our
nation's oceans and the oceans of the world for future generations. I
believe that this Agenda for the Oceans should:
a) Protect and restore America's ocean waters for the public heath.
b) Revitalize America's marine fisheries.
c) Invest in the future of the world's oceans.
d) Expand and strengthen marine protected areas.
e) Protect America's coral reefs.
f) Protect endangered marine wildlife.
g) Spur international efforts to protect the oceans.
h) Fashion a U.S. ocean policy for the 21st century that promotes
stewardship and education.
Each of these issues have been more fully developed in a
forthcoming
report by the Center for Marine Conservation being released for the Year
of the Oceans. Please consider adopting this Agenda for the Oceans as
a
step toward protecting one of our most precious resources.
Sincerely,
<insert name and any personal info you wish>
_________________________________________________________
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