[Pollinator] Reminder: Call or write your Senator to co-sponsor Pollinator Protection Act of 2007

[Mace Vaughan]

[]


Hello all,

This is a reminder to please call or write your Senator, encouraging 
her or him to cosponsor Senator Barbara Boxer's (CA) Pollinator 
Protection Act of 2007 (attached).  Senator Boxer will be introducing 
the Pollinator Protection Act on Tuesday, June 26.  Therefore, your 
Senator needs to hear from you by Monday, June 25th.

This exciting bill not only addresses Colony Collapse Disorder in 
honey bees, but also the decline of native pollinators in North 
America. This bill will enhance funding for research on the 
parasites, pathogens, toxins, and other environmental factors that 
affect honey bees and native bees. It supports research into the 
biology of native bees and their role in crop pollination, 
diversifying the pollinators upon which agriculture relies.

The Pollinator Protection Research Act provides for:
    * $25.25 million to the Agriculture Research Service over five 
years for research, personnel, and facility improvements regarding 
honey bee and native bee biology, causes/solutions for CCD, and bee 
toxicology, pathology, and physiology.
    * $50 million to the Cooperative State Research, Education, and 
Extension Service over five years to fund research grants to 
investigate honey bee and native bee biology, immunology, ecology, 
genomics, bioinformatics, parasites, pathogens, sublethal effects of 
insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides, native bee crop pollination 
and habitat conservation, and effects of genetically modified crops.
    * $11.25 million to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service over five years to conduct a nationwide honey bee pest and 
pathogen surveillance program.
    * Annual reporting to the Committee on Agriculture of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry of the Senate on the status and progress of bee research projects.
Please contact your Senator and urge them consider cosponsoring the 
Pollinator Protection Act of 2007 to provide for research funding 
into honey bee and native bee declines and role of native bees in 
crop pollination.

Current cosponsors include: Casey (PA), Thune (SD), Clinton (NY), 
Bill Nelson (FL), Menendez (NJ), Durbin (IL), Brown (OH), and Kerry (MA).

To find contact information for your senator go to: 
<http://www.senate.gov/index.htm>www.senate.gov/index.htm .

For additional information on the Farm Bill and its conservation 
programs or research into the effectiveness of native bees for crop 
pollination please contact Scott Hoffman Black: 503-449-3792 
<mailto:sblack at xerces.org>sblack at xerces.org or Mace Vaughan: 
503-753-6000 <mailto:mace at xerces.org>mace at xerces.org


Sincerely,
Mace Vaughan
Conservation Director

Scott Black
Executive Director 
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