[Pollinator] Action Opportunity to Sign Group Statement to Senate Ag Approps Supporting $20 million for Pollinator Research. Deadline May 7

[R. Thomas Van Arsdall]

If you did not sign on to the group statement in support of $20 million for
pollinator research that was sent into the House on May 1 [attached], you
can sign on to the updated version that will be sent this Friday to the
Senate Ag Approps Subcommittee.

Deadline is Thursday, May 7.  You can sign on as organization, researcher or
individual [include city-state] by e-mailing tva at pollinator.org. 

The group statement with current signatories is pasted in BELOW.

Background:
* Thanks to the 20 organizations, 22 scientists and 125 individuals who
signed the version sent to the House.  You are also being listed on the
Senate version!
 
* The group statement complements efforts led by Senator Boxer to make a
Member request.  
	+ Xerces sent out an action alert to the pollinator listserv on May
1 asking pollinator supporters to contact their Senators and ask them to
cosign the Boxer letter [10 Senators have signed on to date].  We urge you
to support that effort.
	+ The deadline for the Boxer letter is May 6.  
	+ The Pollinator Partnership is contacting Senate offices.

				***********
May 8, 2009

The Honorable Herb Kohl, Chair
The Honorable Sam Brownback, Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug
Administration, 
and Related Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC  20510

RE: Request for $20 Million in FY10 Allocation to USDA for Pollinator
Research

Dear Chairman Kohl and Ranking Member Brownback:

The undersigned urge the Subcommittee to allocate $20 million in Fiscal Year
2010 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to implement the new
pollinator research provision authorized in the 2008 farm bill.

Native and managed pollinators are essential partners in agriculture and in
healthy ecosystems.  Today, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a host of other
pests and pathogens, climate change, habitat loss, pesticide misuse, 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.  

Honey bees and other pollinators make possible over $15 billion in
agricultural products in the U.S., and as much as $250 billion worldwide. 

Investments in honey bee and pollinator research at the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) have been stagnant for years and continue to fall far
short of identified needs.  The requested funding will underwrite critical
unmet honey bee and pollinator research priorities that can lead to
scientific outcomes urgently needed to address pressing health challenges
plaguing honey bees and threatening the economic viability of beekeepers.

Thank you for your consideration.  
 
Respectfully Submitted,

ORGANIZATIONS:
American Beekeeping Federation, Atlanta, GA
BeeCeuticals Organics, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Beeologics, Inc.  Delivering RNAi Solutions for Bee Health, Miami, FL
Bhusal Agro Farm, Chitwan, Nepal
Carmean Pest Management, Fresno, CA
Defenders of Wildlife, Washington DC
Entomological Foundation, Lanham, MD
Fresno Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, Fresno, CA
G.E. Consulting LLC, Buckeye, AZ
Häagen-Dazs, Oakland, CA
Habitat Gardening, Syracuse, NY
Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center, Humble, TX
Joliet Urban Garden Alliance, Joliet, IL
Omeg Orchards, Inc., Dalles, OR
Pierce County Beekeepers Association, Puyallup, WA
Pollinator Partnership, San Francisco, CA
Sierra Club, San Francisco, CA
St. John's United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden and Labyrinth, 
Phoenixville, PA
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Portland, OR

RESEARCHERS:
Athena Anderson Doctoral Student, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Derek R. Artz, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Associate, Cornell University,
Geneva, NY
Montana Atwater, Research Assistant, McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and
Biodiversity, 
Gainesville, FL
May Berenbaum, Ph.D., Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL
Jennifer E Bergh, Graduate Student, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Stephen Buchmann, Ph.D., Dept. of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson,
AZ
Laura Burkle, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Researcher, Washington University, St.,
Louis, MO
Galen P. Dively, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland,
Baltimore, MD
Roger Downer, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Ohio State University, Wooster, OH
Karen Goodell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Ohio State University, Newark, OH
David W. Inouye, Ph.D., Professor, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Rainee Kaczorowski, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Associate, Cornell University,
Ithaca, NY
Wanja Kinuthia, Ph.D., National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya, Africa
Amy McKinney, Ph.D. candidate, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Randall J. Mitcell, Ph.D., Professor, University of Akron, Akron, OH
D. Sammataro, Ph.D., Bee Researcher, Tucson, AZ
Pamela Thompson, Doctoral student, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Robbin W. Thorp, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Davis, CA
Nan Vance, Ph.D., USDA, Forest Service, Emeritus
Russell Vreeland, Ph.D., Professor, West Chester University, West Chester,
PA
Jay Watson, Graduate Student, University of Wisconsin Green Bay, Green Bay,
WI
E.O. Wilson, Ph.D., Professor, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

OTHER INDIVIDUALS:
Elise Acosta, San Francisco, CA
Laurie Davies Adams, Hillsborough, CA
Karen Ahern, Bainbridge Island, WA
Janet Allen, Syracuse, NY
Margie Anderson, Phoenix, AZ
Norman Arnett, Bothell, WA
Sarah J. Baker, Los Angeles, CA
Lisa M. Banik, Waterbury, CT
Stephen W. Becker, Cranford, NJ
Edward Biesiada, Cleveland, OH
Susan M. Blubaugh, Milford, NJ
Angela Board, Albuquerque, NM
Inge Borland, Kennewick, WA
Ron M. Bitner, Caldwell, ID
Lisa Britz, Lee's Summit, MO
Karen Brandenburger, Tigard, OR
Jessica Brooks, Thomaston, ME
Jennifer Brown, Somerville, MA
Lee Ann Brunn, Leavenworth, IN
Stephanie Brunson, Chattanooga, TN
Ti Bowen, W Terre Haute, IN
Kristine Bucklin, Irvine, Ca 
Carol Burgoa, Occidental, CA
Carol Bylsma, Cortez, CO
Teddie Ciavola Carboni
Ingrid Carmean, Fresno, CA
Kevin Chase, Orrtanna, PA
Joan Chunko, Zion Grove, PA
Mary Clock-Rust, Alexandria, VA
Kristin M. Cody, Chattanooga, TN
Michele Cohen, Belmont, CA
Charles Cohn, MA
Lynn Cole, Queens, NY
Zoe Cox, Winnebago, IL
Deryn Davidson, Austin, TX
Donna Davis, Tucker, GA
Jessica Dixon, Maitland, FL
Joni Earley, Arvada, CO
Gayle E. Eckleberry, Buckeye, AZ
Karla Eisen, Gainesville, VA
Christine Eliazar, Gainesville, FL
Cara Enteles, Damascus, PA
Andrea Eubanks, Warrior, AL
Dallas Eubanks, Warrior, AL  
Carol Evans, Vista, CA
Ben Fajen, Berkeley, CA
Janet Feutz, Reston, VA
Paul Franzese, Franklin Square, NY
Lynn Forrest, South San Francisco, CA
Patricia  Gawley, Bothell, WA
Karen Gillison, Haymarket, VA
Bridget Gleason, Palo Alto, CA
Bradley Gordon, Sebastopol, CA
Susan L. Grau, Carmel, CA
Peggy L. Gray, Gulf Breeze, FL
Brenda Grove, West Chester, PA
Paul J. Growald, Shelburne, VT
Lynnie Grill, Chilliwack, BC, Canada
Tim Gundlach, San Carlos, CA
Pauline M Hazard, E. Patchogue, NY
Jack C. Head, Duluth, GA
Katrina Heil, Suisun City, CA
Cheryl Hindmen, Chattanooga, TN
Brenden Hoffman, Caldwell, ID
Laurel Hopwood, Cleveland, OH
Lorraine Hubbard, Navarre, FL
Debra J. Inman, San Diego, CA
Christine Jones, Alexandria, VA
Kim Land, Union Mills, IN
Carissa Lerulli, Huntington, NY
Diane Louis, North Royalton, OH
Neferi Lunamira, VT
Cynthia King, Morgan Hill, CA
Matthew King, Piedmont, CA
Judy Klafta, Hapeville, GA
Jennifer Kleinrichert, Carlsbad, NM
Loretta Lehman, Duncannon, PA
Bebe Lemone, Oakland, CA
Lolly Lewis, Cameron, TX
Linda Mahoney, Broomfield, CO
Pamela Malmberg, La Conner, WA
Grace Markarian, Washington, DC	
Michael Markarian, Washington, DC 
Mary Mayshark-Stavely, Northfield, MA
Janet McGarry, San Francisco, CA
Sandy McNamee, White Rock, BC Canada
Denise Miller, Chantilly, VA
Kay K. Mitchell, Pensacola, FL
Jennifer Mossholder, Gilbertsville, PA
Winifred Montgomery, San Francisco, CA
Darlene Murphy, Grayslake, IL
Elizabeth Murray, Monterey, CA
Rebecca Newman, Portland, OR
Kari A. Olson, Seattle, WA
Mike Omeg, Dalles, OR
Marian Petrovich, Brookfield IL
Valerie Phillips, Morgantown, WV
	Marilyn Pipkin, Birmingham, AL
Carla Porter, Sunderland, MD
Bethany Ratliff, King, NC	
Carol Reynolds, Columbus OH
Linda K. Robertson, Felton, CA
Marcelle Rocker, San Francisco, CA
Judy Rose, Los Angeles, CA
Jean Saja, Raymond, MS
Connie Seim, Lutherville, MD
Sally Simpson, Garland, TX
Nancy Sneed, Chattanooga, TN
John H. Stierna, Haymarket, VA
Lyle Stock, Brookfield IL
Elizabeth P. Taylor, Cranford, NJ
Betty Tharrington, Tacoma, WA
Katarina Thisner, Mercer Island, WA
Barry Thompson, North Potomac, MD
Beth Todd, Cottage Grove, OR
Jennifer Tsang, San Francisco, CA
Sandra Gidak Tucker, Casa Grand, AZ
Virginia Tyack, Richmond VA
Hans van den Broek, Velp, Netherlands
Wendy Velman, Idaho Falls, ID
Joanna Voigt, Lawrence, KS
Lewis Ward, Cambridge, MA
Sharon West, Newbern, TN
Elizabeth Whitman, Orlando, FL
Allison Wieland, Anchorage, AK
Bret E. Williams Los Angeles, CA
Tina Williams, Atlanta, GA
Thomas Wilson, Baltimore City, MD
Linda Zielinski, Philomath, OR

 ***********

R. Thomas (Tom) Van Arsdall, Director of Public Affairs
   Pollinator Partnership
   O-(540) 899-3023
   C-(703) 509-4746
   tva at pollinator.org 

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