By MEP member group National Parks Conservation Association
On Thursday, March 1, the U.S. House of Representatives will consider legislation that threatens one of America’s national parks. We need you to tell your representative to vote NO on S.1134.
At the same time park budgets face cuts, S. 1134 paves the way for the construction of a massive, freeway-style bridge over the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway in Minnesota. The St. Croix is a beautiful part of our National Park System, and was first protected under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, which protects other rivers all over America.
A replacement bridge is needed, but not a mandate to build the most expensive bridge possible. The fiscally and environmentally irresponsible bridge mandated by this legislation would cost taxpayers $690 million to carry only 17,000 cars a day. To put that in context, the most expensive bridge ever completed in Minnesota, the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River, cost $260 million only a few years ago to carry 140,000 vehicles per day.
This bill also sets the worst possible precedent for circumventing protections and endangering other river parks around the country with mega-bridges or other inappropriate development. Never before in its more than 40-year history has the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act seen this kind of exemption.
We need Congress to create monuments that protect our natural, cultural, and historic resources–not destroy them. We can–and must–do better than create this monument to waste.
Take Action: Tell your U.S. Representative to vote NO on S. 1134 and to not waste taxpayer dollars on a bridge that is too big, too expensive, and too destructive.
Thank you for protecting the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway and speaking up for fiscal responsibility. Future generations will benefit from your action today.