SUPPORT Senate Bill 2761
Copy,
paste, and customize the sample letter and forward it to
the Senate and House Armed Services Committee Members urging
them to SUPPORT Senate Bill 2761 introduced by Senators Wayne
Allard (R-CO) and Ken Salazar (D-CO).
Each web link
sends you to a list of committee members; from there you can
click on each member to get their contact information to send
the letter via regular mail or email. The most important members
to contact are the chairmen and ranking minority members; their
contact information is below.
The Honorable
(Congressman/woman’s Full Name)
Committee member (or chair, ranking member) of Senate (or House)
Armed Services
(Address)
Dear (Congressman/woman’s last name),
As an agriculture producer from southeastern Colorado, I am
writing to urge your support of S.B. 2761 introduced by Senators
Wayne Allard (R-CO) and Ken Salazar (D-CO). We work each day to
preserve and improve our agriculture operations and are proud of
our rich agricultural heritage that has been established in
southeastern Colorado. Our hopes of passing these rural
businesses down to our children, however, are severely
threatened by the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site Expansion Proposal
and the Department of Army.
This proposal is planning to condemn, or buy, up to one million
acres in two counties, Las Animas and Otero. By doing so, it
would economically devastate an additional three counties; Bent,
Baca, and Prowers, in southeastern Colorado. With the current
drought conditions, these five counties cannot afford to lose
thousands of businesses and property, income, and consumption
tax bases; which would surely happen, especially if this
expansion proposal was allowed to use eminent domain or
condemnation.
These five counties boast a total agricultural production of
2,459 farms and ranches, at a value of $452,706,000. These
statistics don’t take into account exported farm and ranch
commodities that are transported to other states and countries.
If the Army is allowed to condemn private property, it will not
only devastate our agricultural producers, but also the
communities in which we live. Our communities are made up of
agri-businesses such as equipment, fertilizer, grain and feed
stores, ranch and veterinarian supply distributors, and retail
stores that employ the majority of the citizens in these
counties. When these businesses close, it will force employees
and families to relocate to find work. With the loss of a
significant tax base, it will severely deplete a community’s
infrastructure for maintaining roads, schools, and social
programs. If the Army condemns private property and evicts
hard-working agricultural families from their land, it will be
the end of numerous rural communities and a way of life that is
rich in the tradition of agricultural heritage.
We are very patriotic and supportive of our armed services, but
we also value our families’ heritage and roots that have been
here for numerous generations. As an agricultural producer, we
have an obligation to help feed the citizens of the U.S. and
abroad. With agriculture being the last net-positive
import/export industry, it is crucial to keep American
agricultural families on the land to produce food and fiber for
this great nation.
Please help SUPPORT the ranching and farming families of
southeast Colorado in preventing the condemnation of our land,
business, family’s heritage, and way-of-life. Please vote ‘YES’
on S.B. 2761.
Sincerely,
(Printed Name)
(Address)
(Phone Number)
