July 25, 2002 Dear Tribal and Organizational Leaders,
Your help is urgently needed in support of Senate Bill 1828-- critically important legislation to secure legal protection for endangered sacred landscapes in California. Earlier this year Senator Burton introduced SB 1828- Historic Recourses: Native American Sacred Sites and in the month of May the Bill passed the State Senate with bipartisan support. Currently SB 1828 is in the State Assembly where we anticipate significant opposition. Therefore, letters of support from your Tribe or Organization to your local Assemblyperson is critically needed. As you well know sacred sites have been continually used by our Spiritual Leaders since time immemorial. However, many of these places of prayer have recently been destroyed and many others are facing immediate threats of destruction by "development" or extractive industries. Currently the Quechan Tribe in Southern California is struggling to protect one of their most sacred sites-- Indian Pass -- from being destroyed by a proposed cyanide heap-leach gold mine. In Northern California the Pit River Tribe is working to protect the sacred Medicine Lake from geothermal development, and in other locations throughout the State many tribal peoples are fighting to protect lands that they hold sacrosanct. For many years we have known that the only way to stop the relentless destruction of our sacred places is with strong statuary protection. SB 1828 will offer such protection! However, time is of the utmost importance as the Assembly will take action on SB 1828 sometime during the month of August. So please send your letters immediately (a sample is attached). If you have problems finding your local Assembly member you can go to http://www.assembly.ca.gov and for a copy of SB 1828 please go to www.leginfo.ca.gov on the web. If you have any questions on SB 1828, please do not hesitate to contact my office. All Our Relations, Christopher H. Peters President and CEO Sample Letter July 24, 2002 Local Assembly Representative Dear, On behalf of the (Tribal or Organizational Name), I write in strong support of Senate Bill 1828, The Native American Sacred Sites Protection Act. Senate Bill 1828 will provide critically needed protection for landscapes that we hold precious and recognize as sacrosanct. Our people have used these holy places since the beginning of time for Vision Quests and Ceremonial purposes. In recent years, many Native sacred sites have been destroyed and Native peoples religious practices have been negatively impacted by growth and development throughout the State of California. Under existing State law, there are no requirements to consider negative impacts on sacred sites under the existing environmental review process nor are there any provisions for early and complete consultation with Native tribal governments regarding sacred sites. SB 1828 will mandate such consultation and give added protection to Native sacred lands. Again, we greatly encourage your support of Senate Bill 1828. Thank you for your prompt consideration of this urgent appeal. Sincerely, Tribal or Organizational Representative Cc: The Honorable Senator John Burton California State Senate State Capitol Room 205 Sacramento, CA 95814 -- Andr� Cramblit: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Operations Director Northern California Indian Development Council NCIDC (http://www.ncidc.org) is a non-profit that meets the development needs of American Indians and operates an art gallery featuring the art of California tribes (http://www.americanindianonline.com) COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY TO THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN INDIANS/NATIVE AMERICANS/ALASKAN NATIVES & HAWAIIAN ISLANDERS. For news of interest to Natives subscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or go to: http://www.topica.com/lists/NativeAmericanNews/subscribe/?location=listinfo Visit and show your support for the Grass Roots Oyate http://members.tripod.com/GrassRootsOyate Clemency for Leonard Peltier. Sign the Petition. http://petitiononline.com/Release/petition.html ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?b1ddNB.b2HgmN Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
