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Schools, Roads To Get Boost From US Forest Service Funds |
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Thursday, 22 January 2009 |
 State - Rural schools and road funding received a big boost earlier this week following the announcement by Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer that the US Forest Service is distributing more than $477 million to 41 states and Puerto Rico for local improvements. The funding is part of the newly amended and reauthorized Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act. “Payments under the Act help fund schools and roads and create employment opportunities through projects that maintain current infrastructure and improve the health of watersheds and ecosystems on national forests,” announced the Forest Service. Since 1908, 25 percent of Forest Service revenues, such as those from timber sales, mineral resources and grazing fees, have been returned to states in which national forest lands are located. In recent decades those revenues have declined significantly. The original Secure Rural Schools Act aimed at stabilizing the funding and transitioning to lower payments by providing assistance to affected rural counties. That Act expired in September of 2007. The reauthorized Act extends the program four more years. The first of the reauthorized payments are shown in the Summary of 2008 Forest Service payments. Oregon will receive the highest payment of more than $133 million; California will receive more than $57 million; and Idaho and Washington will receive more than $37 million. The Act also provides for an additional $52 million this year to be used by local resource advisory committees to fund projects to maintain infrastructure, improve the health of watersheds and ecosystems, protect communities, and strengthen local economies. In past years , 55 committees in western states have been active in this program. The Forest Service anticipates the formation of nearly 60 more committees under the newly reauthorized Act, many of them in the Lake States, eastern states and southeastern states where national forests are located. Staff Report (
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 22 January 2009 )
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