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Rebecca K. Leet, director of education
The Wilderness Society is a 65,000-member conservation organization founded in 1935 to ensure the preservation of wilderness and the proper management of all federally-owned lands. It is the only national conservation organization whose sole focus is the protection
of all federal lands—national forests, national parks, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas and the lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
Although the Wilderness Society is a non-profit organization and not a lobby in the traditional sense, it is active in the arenas where public debate shapes federal policy. Primarily the Wilderness Society seeks to educate and influence decision-makers in a variety of ways. Sometimes it lobbies directly on specific legislation, talking with members of Congress or their staffs to persuade them to support a particular bill. The Society also seeks to educate the public about important public land issues by maintaining close contact with the news media. The Society recognizes that reporters and editorial writers who are well-educated about important issues are very likely to turn around and inform their readers about these same issues.
In addition, the Society's staff discusses proper regulation and management of public lands with key government officials; sponsors workshops to teach citizens how to become involved in the policymaking process; analyzes and comments on new preservation and management proposals; testifies at congressional hearings in support of or in opposition to public land measures; and establishes cooperative programs with other conservation organizations. Occasionally the Society's staff has conducted original research. When the administration wanted to search for oil and gas deposits in wilderness areas, the Society, using federal data, found that despite claims by the administration, only a negligible amount of oil and gas exists in wilderness areas.
The fairest public policy is developed when a variety of viewpoints are considered. The Wilderness Society considers that its role is to bring to the process of public policy formation a well researched and clearly articulated point of view that reflects the interests of the public—those concerned and those unaware—who depend on the federally-owned lands to provide recreation, to protect the air and water supplies, to protect wildlife and fragile ecological areas and to ensure a sustained yield of renewable resources like trees and grasslands.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM 157
Q Lobbyists and Their Issues
American Israel Public Affairs Committee
Thomas Dine, executive director
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is the only American Jewish organization registered to lobby Congress on legislation affecting Israel. Headquartered in Washington, AIPAC is the nationwide American organization that has worked to strengthen U.S.-Israeli relations for more than 25 years. AIPAC has spearheaded efforts to defeat the sale of sophisticated American weaponry to hostile Arab regimes, and has helped to protect and defend foreign aid requests to Israel of more than $2.2 billion annually.
On a daily basis, AIPAC lobbyists meet with representatives, senators and their staffs to provide useful material, monitor all relevant legislation and anticipate legislative issues affecting Israel. In this way AIAPC lobbyists serve an invaluable function in the American political process. They are a vital informational and creative resource for members of Congress, helping them to deal with the multitude of issues that confront them every day.
In addition, AIPAC is active on university campuses, educating and involving pro-Israel students in the American political process and sensitizing America's future policymakers to Israel's strengths and needs.
Once a year all 34,000 members of AIPAC, including students, are invited to Washington to meet with their U.S. representatives and to formally approve AIPAC's policy statement, which serves as the organization's guide throughout the year.
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