Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Letter

Following is a letter which was signed by elected county officials who are opposed to the National Association of Counties' support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  For more information about the risks to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, check out the Wilderness Society's website.

January 4, 2001

Jane Hague, President National Association of Counties
440 First Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20001

Dear Ms. Hague:

We write to you, as elected officials of counties that belong to the National Association of Counties, to call your attention to the federal public lands policies currently being endorsed by the Association.  As you know, the Association represents counties with elected officials possessing a broad range of opinions regarding public land use and other environmental issues. We respect that differences of opinion exist, and that these differences can and should lead to a healthy discourse on the issue.

However, we believe that, in their current form, several of the organization's public land policies neither adequately represent the diverse views of the membership, nor the American public at large. Further, we believe that several policies drafted by the Public Lands Steering Committee are both out of sync with the membership and the wishes of our constituents. For example, public lands policies that NACo has approved include:

• opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration and
• requiring county approval before a private property owner can sell his/her property to the federal government.

These positions place the Association at odds with many of its own members and a majority of the American people. In light of this inconsistency, we urge you to reconsider these and similar positions. We would like to meet with you and the Executive Committee during the March annual meeting to discuss these issues.

Thank you for your attention to this critical issue. We look forward to meeting with you.

Sincerely,

Phil Andrews, Councilmember, Montgomery County MD
Robert Boggs, Commissioner, Ashtabula County OH
Tim Botkin, Commissioner, Kitsap County WA
Sharon Bronson, Supervisor, District 3, Pima County AZ
Margaret Brown, Commissioner, Orange County NC
Bill Carey, Commissioner, Missoula County MT
Moses Carey, Jr., Commissioner, Orange County NC
Ray Carroll, Supervisor, District 3, Pima County AZ
Illa Collin, Supervisor, District 2, Sacramento County CA
Patrick Cone, Commissioner, Summit County CA
Bruce Conklin, Supervisor, District 3, Nevada County CA
David Conley, Supervisor, District 5, Douglas County WI
Paul Danish, Vice-Chair, Boulder County CO
Ann Day, Supervisor, District 1, Pima County AZ
Jay Dixon, Commissioner, Benton County OR
Howard Doherty, Jr., Commissioner, District 3, Clallam County WA
Robert Downing, Commissioner, District 3, Calhoun County WA
Bill Dwyer, Commissioner, District 2, Lane County OR
Dan Eckstrom, Supervisor, District 2, Pima County AZ
Chris Endresen, Chair, Kitsap County WA
Elaine Fischer, Commissioner, District 1, San Miguel County CO
David Gawenda, Treasurer, Dane County WI
Donna Gerber, Supervisor, District 3, Contra Costa County CA
Art Goodtimes, Commissioner, District 3 San Miguel County CO
Alice Gordon, Commissioner, Orange County NC
Barbara Green, Supervisor, District 5, Nevada County CA
Raul Grijalva, Chair, Pima County AZ
Leah Gunn, Commissioner, Washtenaw County MI
Guy Guzzone, Councilmember, Howard County MD
Steve Halkiotis, Chair, Orange County NC
Dean Harmon, Commissioner, District 1, Roosevelt County MT
Steve Holmes, Councilmember, District 2, City and County of Honolulu HI
Brett Hulsey, Supervisor, Dane County WI
Byng Hunt, Supervisor, District 5, Mono County CA
Barry Jacobs, Vice-Chair, Orange County NC
Bob/Julie Jacobson, Councilmember, District 6, Hawai'i County HI
Annabelle Jaramillo, Commissioner, Benton County OR
Jim Johnson, Chair, Hardin County IA
Alice Lai-Bitker, Supervisor, District 3, Alameda County CA
Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd, Councilmember, Hawai'i County HI
Diane Linn, Commissioner, District 1, Multnomah County OR
Lonnie Logan, Supervisor, District 1, Hall County NE
Vern Lorsung, Commissioner, Douglas County MN
Jeanne Lynch, Commissioner, District 5, Worcester County MD
Loretta McCarley, Board Member, District 2, Lake County IL
Kathryn McKenzie, Supervisor, District 1, Douglas County WI
Peter McLaughlin, commissioner, Hennepin County MN
James Maisano, Legislator, Westchester County NY
Elizabeth Martin, Chair, Supervisor, District 4, Nevada County CA
Gail Marshall, Supervisor, District 3, Santa Barbara County CA
Judy Martini, Board Member, District 1, Lake County IL
Jana Mendez, Chair, Boulder County CO
Sarah Michael, Commissioner, Blaine County ID
Rhea Miller, County Commissioner, District 3, San Juan County WA
Mary Ann Mix, Chair, Blaine County ID
Linda Modrell, Commissioner, Benton County OR
Lisa Naito, Commissioner, District3, Multnomah County OR
Darcie Nielsen, Commissioner, District 1 San Juan County WA
Donovan Olson, Supervisor, Boone County IA
William Pauly, Legislator, Erie County NY
Gary Phillips, Chair, Chatham County NC
Larry Phillips, Council Member, King County WA
Peg Pinard, Supervisor, District 3, San Luis Obispo County CA
Mike Quigley, Commissioner, District 10, Cook County Il
Annette Rose, Supervisor, District 3, Marin County CA
Susan Rose, Supervisor, District 2, Santa Barbara County CA
Mike Sallee, Borough Assemblyman, Ketchikan Gateway Borough AK
Suzi Schmidt, Chair, Lake County IL
Dick Schouten, Commissioner, District 3, Washington County OR
Naomi Schwartz, Supervisor, District 1, Santa Barbara County CA
Peter Sferrazza, Commissioner, District 3, Washoe County NV
Sandy Shuptrine, Commissioner, Teton County WY
Christine Smith, Commissioner, San Juan County CO
Dale Smolnisky, Commissioner, District 1, Meeker County MN
Dave Somers, Chair, Snohomish County WA
Peter Sorenson, Commissioner, District 3, Lane County OR
Beverly Stein, Chair, Multnomah County OR
Ronald Stewart, Commissioner, Boulder County CO
Steve Tharinger, Commissioner, Clallam County WA
Cheryl Thorp, Commissioner, Curry County OR
Peter Van Zant, Supervisor, District 1, Nevada County CA
Robert Weiner, Councilman, District 2, New Castle County DE
Richard Wojt, County Commissioner, District 3, Jefferson County WA
John Woolley, Supervisor, District 3, Humboldt County CA
Dennis Wright, Vice Chair, Blaine County ID
Zev Yaroslavsky, Supervisor, District 2, Los Angeles County CA

cc: Supervisor Ronald Christensen, Chair, Public Lands Steering Committee

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