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 named Representative Raul Grijalva (D) as a 2004 Environmental Champion in his race for reelection to Arizona³ 7th district. 

LCV Environmental Champions are candidates who have proven their pro-environment commitment through substantive action.  LCV supports these outstanding leaders by rewarding them with direct contributions, fundraising, and occasionally running independent campaigns to help ensure they are reelected to Congress as we continue to build America³ pro-environment majority.

(is first term in Congress, Raul Grijalva has earned the environmental champion designation because of his efforts to protect public lands and advocate for responsible land management,� Vice President for Policy. �e environmental concerns of the people of his district and is working hard to make sure their interests are heard in Washington.�le="font-family: Arial, Helvetica; font-size: 80%">Grijalva serves on the House Resources committee and is a member of the National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands Subcommittee and the Subcomittee on Water and Public Works.

He has worked to protect public lands, provide funds for National Parks, and enact responsible forest policies.  The Congressman has been an especially vocal critic of President Bush's "Healthy Forests" initiative, which promotes logging large fire-resistant trees in the backcountry.  He has also fought to preserve the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area from the ill conceived effort in Congress to exempt growth related impacts associated with Ft. Huachuca. 

In 2003 Grijalva opposed the Bush/Cheney Energy policy, the plan to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling and Snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park. Grijalva earned a perfect 100% on the 2003 LCV environmental scorecard.

For information on all of LCV³ 2004 Environmental Champions, visit our website.

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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.