Sample Letters

Please personalize your letter with your own sentence or two

Dear Delegate or Senator:
As I am sure you know, wetland preservation is an essential ingredient in the efforts to restore Virginia's rivers, streams, and Chesapeake Bay.

The 2000 General Assembly Session passed the Virginia Non-tidal Wetland Resources Act to help close a legal loophole that allowed the destruction of our valuable wetland resources with no requirements for mitigating the damage or compensating for the impacts they created.

(I very much appreciate your support of this legislation and encourage you to continue to give your full and active support to such important conservation measures.)

(OR)

(I am very disappointed in your vote on this important wetland protection legislation and I strongly encourage you to reconsider your opposition to this important conservation measure.)

Some legislators have already indicated they may revisit this legislation even before the program is developed or implemented.

We have already spent millions of dollars to protect and restore our waterways. As a taxpayer I feel strongly that we need to protect our remaining wetlands for the important pollution prevention and flood control they provide. It makes no sense to destroy these naturally existing controls and then have to pay for the creation of new manmade ones.

Additionally, our wetlands protect drinking water supplies, filter runoff from nearby land and provide irreplaceable habitat for crabs, fish and other wildlife.

I strongly urge you support the Virginia Non-tidal Wetland Resources Act and to give the program a chance to be developed and implemented before revisiting the issue again.

Virginia should be protecting its natural resources and not allowing further degradation and loss of Virginia's own wetland resources.
Thank you for your time and please let me know your position on this important matter.
Sincerely, [Your name and address]

[PLEASE REMEMBER TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS ON THE ENVELOPE.]