Contact: Chuck Porcari (cell: (240) 286-7566) or Mark Sokolove (cell: (703) 599-7656) or (202) 785-8683

WASHINGTON - The League of Conservation Voters (LCV), the political voice of the national environmental and conservation community, today announced its endorsement of Rep. Nick Rahall (D) for reelection in West Virginia³ 3rd Congressional district.

"LCV endorsed Rep. Rahall because he continues to be a strong advocate for protecting the health and quality of life of the people of West Virginia," said Betsy Loyless, LCV Vice President for Policy. "As the ranking Democrat on the House Resources Committee, he has spoken against anti-environmental Republican-led committee excesses, and has been a leader on a number of conservation measures, such as fighting for endangered species protections and a fair debate exempting them from Defense Department regulations."

Rep. Rahall is the leading member of Congress working to reform the 1872 General Mining law, and he sponsored the Mineral Exploration and Development Act of 2003 that would stop giveaways of public lands for mining purposes without environmental safeguards. He worked to add several rivers as units of the National Park System in West Virginia, and in doing so created the largest network of federally protected rivers in the eastern US.

In 2003, Congressman Rahall offered an important amendment to deny federal funds to agencies to kill bison in and around Yellowstone National Park. In Yellowstone, bisons are the only wild, free-roaming animals that are left to continuously occupy their native habitat in the United States.

Rep. Rahall earned a solid 85% score on LCV³ 2003 National Environmental Scorecard.

For information on all of LCV³ endorsed candidates, visit our endorsement page.

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The nonprofit League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is the political voice of the national environmental and conservation community. LCV, which is not a partisan organization, is the only national organization working full-time to hold Congress and the president accountable for their environmental actions. For more information, please visit us on the web at www.lcv.org.