To the editor:

Proposition 8 will be on the Nov. 5 ballot. Missourians will have a chance to cast a vote in favor of Missouri's state parks and in favor of programs that have reduced soil erosion from Missouri farms, brining the state from the second-worst in the United States to become a model of soil conservation. A vote in favor of this proposition will not increase taxes. It will merely extend a tax already in effect.

The state parks and the soil conservation programs are enabled by a one-tenth-cent sales tax that needs to be renewed in order to maintain funding, protect our parks and conserve our soil. Since the tax was enacted in 1984, state parks have been upgraded and nature programs improved, while 100 million tons of soil have been saved by the implementation of 100,000 conservation practices supported by funds generated by this minuscule tax burden.

Almost everyone with any interest in protecting Missouri's environment, from farmers to environmental and conservation organizations, has endorsed the extension of this small tax. To overcome the potential impact of Missourians who might vote no simply because this is a tax and care nothing for the conservation of Missouri's resources, please make sure that when you get to the ballot box in November you cast your vote in favor of Proposition 8.

GLORIA KIEHNE

Jackson