Save the Tortugas Coral Wilderness

[Peter Burnside]

I thought I'd forward this along from WWF to generate
some more letters.
P.B.

Go to
> http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ to send free 
> messages urging the following officials to establish
> the Tortugas 
> Reserve:  Billy Causey, Florida Keys National Marine
> Sanctuary; Dr. 
> Robert Shipp, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management
> Council; Russell 
> Nelson, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
> Commission; and 
> Jeffery Scott, National Park Service.

> We need your help to save the imperiled coral reefs
> of the Tortugas 
> region of the Florida Keys.  As you may know, coral
> reefs are 
> declining significantly worldwide.  The proposed
> Tortugas Marine 
> Reserve, a far-reaching and innovative plan that
> World Wildlife Fund 
> helped develop, would protect 186 square nautical
> miles of world class 
> coral reefs, sea grass beds, and related habitats. 
> By banning fishing, 
> collecting, anchoring, and other activities that
> threaten the area, the 
> reserve would conserve the most remote and pristine
> part of this coral 
> wilderness for current and future generations.
> 
> Located 70 miles west of Key West, Florida, the
> Tortugas region is 
> renowned for its high biodiversity and productivity.
>  It boasts the 
> cleanest waters, highest coral cover, and healthiest
> fish communities 
> among Florida's reefs; the most successful sea
> turtle nests in the Keys; 
> and the only breeding colonies of magnificent
> frigate birds and sooty 
> terns in the continental United States.  The
> Tortugas region is also a 
> valuable spawning area for many threatened reef
> species.
> 
> The product of two years of research and consensus
> building, the 
> reserve proposal is widely supported and will
> benefit both fishermen 
> and the environment.  But we need your help to make
> the reserve a 
> reality.  Key government agencies must hear now from
> concerned 
> citizens like you.  Please act today to protect this
> irreplaceable ocean 
> wilderness. Go to
> http://takeaction.worldwildlife.org/ to send free 
> messages urging the following officials to establish
> the Tortugas 
> Reserve:  Billy Causey, Florida Keys National Marine
> Sanctuary; Dr. 
> Robert Shipp, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management
> Council; Russell 
> Nelson, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
> Commission; and 
> Jeffery Scott, National Park Service.
> 
> 
> 



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