Last time I checked, Puerto Rico was a part of the United States, and had been for over a century.

True, it is not a state; Puerto Ricans do not pay the same taxes, and they cannot vote in presidential elections. On the other hand, a Puerto Rican could become president. All persons born in Puerto Rico are citizens of the U.S.; they carry U.S. passports when traveling abroad.
They pay for their food in U.S. dollars. They pay into, and in turn receive, Social Security. They have a (non-voting) representative to Congress. Their defensive forces are a part of the U.S. military. Young Puerto Rican men are subject to the draft and have served with distinction for generations. The historical and environmental sites of the island are administered by the National Park Service.

In other words, Puerto Rico is roughly on par with the status of Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. Is it not part of the nation?

The moment that you enter El Yunque you will discover friendly, professional staff is dedicated to the Forest Service mission of “Caring for the land and serving people.”

El Yunque has been a Federal Forest Reserve for over a century

AND IF YOU HAVEN’T HEARD THE GREAT NEWS?

Puerto Rico’s El Yunque National Forest has been nominated among 261 other elite national and international candidate nature locations to participate in the New 7 Wonders of Nature worldwide campaign!

The second phase of the campaign has just begun and we need YOU to help ensure that El Yunque is now included in the select list of 77 semi-finalists in this exciting worldwide campaign!

YOUR VOTE WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE!

Everything indicates that the illusion that El Yunque is recognized as one of “New 7 wonders of the world could be if citizens continue to support the nature reserve in the cyber competition.

This was reported Pablo Cruz, director of the federal Forest Service, in urging the community to “spread the word” to cast their vote through http://www.new7wonders.com/.

“We are progressing in the competition, but we still have to get more votes to enter the first 11 positions in our category (forests, national parks and nature reserves),” he added.

 There are many natural resources that make El Yunque a worthy place for the recognition, even if the picture of the competition becomes a challenge, considering that the Amazon and the Puerto Princesa subterranean river in the Philippines “are strong contenders.”

Instead, El Yunque is even smaller than those reservations, and has important attributes is recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage since 1976,” the expert on the forest land of 29 strings, among other things, also contains as the cradle of tropical forest science or the study of tropical forests.

YOU MUST VOTE BEFORE JULY 7, 2009 SO WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL!

When El Yunque is numbered among the 77 semi-finalists, it gets even more exciting – 21 finalists will be selected from the list of 77 by a panel of experts – then, these 21 will be put to a popular vote beginning in July 2009.

Voting will continue throughout 2010 and into 2011 – during this period the NEW 7 WONDERS OF NATURE TOUR will visit each of the finalists to allow them to present themselves to voters across the globe – the final declaration of the 7 winning New Wonders of Nature will be made in 2011