[Pollinator] NEW! Co-Sign Pollinator $ Research Letter to HOUSE Ag Approps-Deadline c.o.b. March 21

[R. Thomas Van Arsdall]

14 organizations, 11 researchers and 26 individuals signed on to group
letter [below] being sent to SENATE Ag Approps in support of increased
research funding for honeybee and pollinator research.  Senators Barbara
Boxer (D-CA) and Robert Casey (R-PA) and 16 of their colleagues are sending
a similar letter today.  Go to http://www.pollinator.org/farm_bill.htm for
final CoE, Boxer-Casey & Group Letters.

*****Now YOU can help on the HOUSE Side by Adding Your Organization/Name to
the same Group Letter Below.

*****DEADLINE:  RSVP asap and no later than c.o.b. Friday, March 21.

*****Just respond to tom at vanarsdall.com and indicate how you would like to
be listed [if individual, include affiliation & city-state].

*****This group letter complements and supports a similar Member effort in
the U.S. House of Representatives being led by Alcee Hastings (D-FL) & Earl
Blumenauer (D-OR) to get honeybee and pollinator research funding in the
FY09 appropriations bill.

*****NOTE:  If you are listed on the letter below, which is being sent to
the Senate Ag Appropriations Subcommittee, but would like your name dropped
for the House letter, let us know.  We normally would start all over.  But
time is short; and this is an identical letter and effort.  Thank you for
your understanding.

THANKS!!!!

************GROUP LETTER****************  

Dear Chairwoman DeLauro and Ranking Member Kingston, 

The undersigned urge the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee to
allocate $20 million in Fiscal Year 2009 funding for honeybee and pollinator
research projects. These funds will help provide sustainable research and
combat immediate and pressing challenges like Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)
and other factors that threaten both managed honeybees and wild pollinators.


Honeybees and wild pollinators are essential partners in agriculture and in
healthy ecosystems.  Today, CCD and other threats to the health and
population of pollinators in North America could jeopardize the integrity of
our food supply and healthy wildlife ecosystems.  

Investments in honeybee and pollinator research at USDA have failed to
reflect the seriousness and urgency of threats to pollinators.  The
Administration's proposed increase of less than $1 million for FY09 falls
far short of the investment needed.  The $20 million request is consistent
with the Senate-passed farm bill, which includes a $100 million
authorization over five years for CCD and other pollinator-related research
initiatives.  

Sincerely,

ORGANIZATIONS:
American Beekeeping Federation
Beeologics, LLC, Miami, FL
California State Beekeepers Association
Cheshire County Conservation District, Walpole, NH
Coevolution Institute
Defenders of Wildlife
Entomological Foundation, Inc.
Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Environmental Working Group
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History, York, SC
MindBodyGreen.com, New York, NY
National Farmers Union
Partners for Sustainable Pollination, Santa Rosa, CA
Xerces Society

RESEARCHERS:
   May R. Berenbaum, Ph. D., Swanlund Professor and Head, Department of
Entomology,     
     	University of Illinois Urbana Champaign: Chair, National Academy of
Sciences 
     	Committee on the Status of Pollinators (2006)
   Stephen Buchmann, Ph.D., Department of Entomology, University of Arizona 
   Theodore H. Fleming, Ph. D., Professor of Biology, University of Miami
   David Hawthorne, Ph. D., Associate Professor of Entomology, University of
Maryland, 
    	College Park 
   Gretchen LeBuhn, Ph. D., Associate Professor, San Francisco State
University
   Gene E. Robinson, Ph. D., Swanlund Professor and Director, Bee Research
Facility,   
    	University of Illinois Urbana Champaign: Member, National Academy of
Sciences 
     	Committee on the Status of Pollinators (2006)
   F. Christian Thompson, Ph. D, Research Entomologist, Systematic
Entomology Lab, 
     	USDA, ARS: Member, National Academy of Sciences, Committee on the
Status of    
     	Pollinators (2006)
   Robbin Thorpe, Ph. D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Entomology,
University of 
    	California-Davis
   Rogel Villanueva, Ph. D., Research Scientist, El Colegio de la Frontera
Sur
   E. O. Wilson, Ph.D., Research Professor of Biology, Emeritus, Harvard
University

OTHER INDIVIDUALS:
Nancy Adamson, Entomology Graduate Student, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Julie Baker, Lansing, MI
C. Richie Bell, Chapel Hill, NC
Alice Berlow, Executive Director, Island Grown Initiative, Vineyard Haven,
MA
Monica Boruch, Homeschool Parent, Washington, DC
Megan Bowes, Boulder, CO
Karen Brandenberger, Tigard, OR
Steve Brustkern, Madison Bee Pollination, Medina, WA
Tonya Clifford, Tennessee Master Gardeners, Sumner County, TN
Zoe Cox, Environmental Specialist, Exelon Nuclear-Byron Station, Byron, IL
Pam Darty, Chiefland, FL
Rose-Lynn Fisher, Photographer, Los Angeles, CA
Chris Jones, Beekeepers of Northern Virginia, Alexandria, VA
Danielle Kamens, Los Angeles, CA
Barbara Klement Klammer, Davie, FL
Jennifer Kleinrichert Santa Fe, NM
Anne H. Lindsey, Chapel Hill, NC
Sandy McNamee, Vancouver, BC
Michael Menzell, Beautification Committee, Point Pleasant Beach NJ
Molly Rightmyer, Arlington, VA
Martin Rosen, Kentfield, CA
Randy Rybarczyk, Tuscarawas County Beekeepers Club, Gnadenhutten, OH
Lee Serenethos, Beaverton, WA
R. Thomas Van Arsdall, Fredericksburg,VA
Nelle Wheeler, Summerville, GA
Jennifer Carrell York, Santa Ana, CA

**********

R. Thomas (Tom) Van Arsdall, Public Affairs Representative for Coevolution
Institute/Pollinator Partnership/NAPPC
For More Information, http://www.pollinator.org 

Van Arsdall & Associates
P.O. Box 8512
Fredericksburg, VA  22404-8512
PH:  (540) 785-0949
Cell:  (703) 509-4746
tom at vanarsdall.com