Pombo in Pocket

Latest on Rep. Richard Pombo from Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund and Pombo’s in Their Pocket

If you’re getting ready to pay your taxes, you may feel like you need a break. But after you hear how Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) spent his vacation — and our tax dollars — you’d be right to demand that he is the person to give you one.

It was August of 2003 and Pombo, America’s #1 Wildlife Villain, wanted a vacation. So Pombo used our tax dollars to rent an RV for a two-week family vacation in some of our nation’s most scenic national parks – parks like the ones he’s since proposed selling off to the highest bidder.

Interestingly, Pombo just can’t seem to get his story straight about this trip. After the trip, Rep. Pombo wrote on the official House Resources Committee website:

“This August, my family and I rented an RV and set out to explore the West. We spent two weeks on vacation, stopping along the way to enjoy the splendor of many of our national parks.”
Now he says it “was not a personal trip” and, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, “insists that he spent virtually all day talking to the park superintendents and other officials.” But, in the words of his hometown newspaper, “officials from at least two parks Pombo says he visited have no recollection of him making an appearance.”

What’s most amazing about all of this is that Pombo has proposed selling off 15 national parks and requiring the Park Service to sell commercial advertising and the naming rights to visitors’ centers and trails. Now that he and his family have enjoyed the parks, he’s content to hand them and the vulnerable animals that call them home over to the clutches of his developer buddies.

Click here to email Richard Pombo and demand that he immediately cease trying to sell our national parks and return the money he took from taxpayers for his personal enjoyment.

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