Paid for by Citizens for Colburn Committee. Authority John W. Phillips, Jr., Treasurer

Sen. Colburn responding to McConnell on Blackwater
April 18, 2006
Star Democrat

This is in response to Ellicott McConnell’s April 4 letter to the editor. First, Mr. McConnell needs to know that I don’t base my legislative decisions on the next election. I do not give every vote a litmus test of how this will or will not hurt me or help me in the next election; I simply try to do the right thing.

Senate Bill 257 (Critical Areas Program — Resource Conservation Areas — National Wildlife Refuges) sponsored by Sen. James Brochin was cross filed as House Bill 1103. Mr. McConnell needs to know that House Bill 1103 also died in the House Environmental Matters Committee.

Believe it or not I am just as concerned about the Blackwater Refuge as Ellicott McConnell. In fact, I lived near the Blackwater Refuge on Egypt Road for 27 years, from 1972 — 1999. I’m not sure whether Mr. McConnell attended the hearing in the Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee Feb. 14, for Senate Bill 257. If he had, and he truly loves national refuges and our wildlife preserves, then he needs to realize that legislation that would do what he wants would have to be written to protect all refuges.

I believe that the most poignant testimony of the day occurred almost four hours into the bill hearing and was missed by most of the media. It was given by former Senator Marty Madden, an avowed environmentalist, who chairs Maryland’s Critical Areas Commission, and Marianne Mason, Assistant Attorney General for the Critical Areas Commission.

The Critical Areas chairman said the bill, as amended, was singling out one of five national wildlife refuges for special consideration and that this would create a two-tier system. I also agree that national wildlife refuges are indeed precious resources, but there are many other state resources equally as valuable. An example of this is Fishing Bay (29,000 acres) which is located east and directly adjacent to Blackwater Refuge (28,000 acres). The same is true in many other areas across the state.

There are 65 public lands and 38 wildlife management areas throughout Maryland. Because this amended bill supposedly protects only Blackwater National Wildlife Refuges, does that mean that state and county parks don’t deserve the same protection? Are they not as important? Once you set up a two-tier system, unintended and unfavorable consequences develop.

This briefly reviews some of the many reasons that Senate Bill 257 and House Bill 1103 died in the 2006 session of the Maryland General Assembly.

SEN. RICHARD COLBURN,

Cambridge