Letter to a fine young man with TNC

As you know everything I do is out of respect, love and compassion to our American Resource Producers. Without them, our country faces certain doom.

Just so I have a better footing with TNC, I need to know first off; does TNC receive money from county, state or federal governments? If so, what is the cumulative income - from genesis to 2006 - from these sources? How much of that does TNC presently have? How much do you project to receive through 2020?

As taxpayers who give these governments our money, we're sure TNC will agree that we have the right to help decide how the government portion of your income is spent.

Following are some items we urge The Nature Conservancy to tend to immediately.
Find out exactly how much water and money is diverted away from Colorado and into the Endangered Species Act that wants to fill water pans for three birds that do touch and goes in North Platte Nebraska. Cottage industries (Like SPWRAP) have popped up around this, claiming authority to "collect money and water" to fulfill this ESA expectation. We need to know who they are, and if they have any legal standing.

Fix potties in our public parks.

Help stop any more designations of "wild lands, rivers, species and monuments etc." Paying for areas that we're ban from yet told to enjoy, has transcended the law of diminishing return and marched into the law of destructive return. We cannot afford to take one more acre feet of water, or acre of land out of resource production.

Then there's the matter of grossly trashed barrow pits. Supposedly it's a human rights violation to ask people jailed for illegal actions to clean `em up. But it's OK for old ladies like me to do it? TNC could help maintain beauty along our public trails...roads...highways.

We saw fields of Leafy Spurge along the Toll Road that are in dire need of eradication. TNC should eradicate such noxious weeds along these public by-ways.

Designated wetlands have become breeding grounds for armies of West Nile bearing Mosquitoes. The at-risk public will be grateful when TNC helps stops designating more wetlands, properly maintains pre-existing wetlands, distributes West Nile vaccine and eliminates the mosquitoes.

Family businesses and private property rights have been crushed under the weight of the misbegotten Endangered Species Act. We want TNC to help us tell congress; "ESA is hurting us, stop it right now!"

For national security and a myriad of justifiable reasons, it is imperative resource production be rejuvenated and allowed to thrive in America. TNC needs to help remove any roadblock that stops American resource producers from producing.
Prairie rat villages are destroying habitat for wild and domestic livestock, food production and private property. TNC should invest in the Prairie rat vacuum, then remove all that reside outside their defined villages and deliver them to the people identified in want of them.

If the ill designed horse slaughter bill goes through, thousands of horses will be dumped, starved, and left to die slow, excruciating deaths. TNC needs to get pro-active on this, and prepare some land it already owns for a horse sanctuary. TNC could work with BLM's in states including NE, WY, UT and CO, to gather all feral horses and move them to this new equine sanctuary, giving them a deserved safe haven.

We need to insure that TNC uses money received through county, state or federal governments to protect American Resource Producers and not go towards the guillotine that would behead us.

Thanks again, for all your input. We appreciate it!

Roni Bell Sylvester

----- Original Message -----
From: Bill Ulfelder
To: Roni Sylvester
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 2:25 PM
Subject: TNC government grants

Dear Roni,

I hope this email finds you well and enjoying this exceptional spring we are having.

One question/commment that you had that I am able to answer regards the amount of financial assistance that the Conservancy received this past year from government sources. In our last fiscal year, which ended June 30th, we received $101,232,000 in government grants from federal, state and local government sources. This was slightly down from the previous year. There is no way to predict how much government funding we will receive in future years, as the government doesn't commit to funding amounts several years out. As you can imagine, those funds are for very specific projects (deliverables, timelines and budgets).

Take care and we'll be in touch,

Bill Ulfelder