Forest Service announces payments to states
January 16, 2015 |10:36 AM
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Thursday that the U.S. Forest Service will pay more than $50 million to 41 states and Puerto Rico to support local schools and roads under the Twenty-Five Percent Fund Act of 1908, but that the payments would have been much higher if Congress had reauthorized the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS), which expired on September 30.
The 1908 Act requiring 25 percent payments from receipts from national forests in each state is permanent law, and will guide 2014 distribution of payments.
This year, the estimated total amount of all 25 percent payments to all eligible states is about $50 million, compared to around $300 million available for the entire SRS program last year.
USDA also released a list of the funding amounts by state. (See link)
Vilsack noted that the Obama administration supported a five-year reauthorization of the program to transition payments to counties in the fiscal year 2015 president’s budget, but since it was not reauthorized, payments revert to the permanent law.
Seven-year rolling averages of receipts from national forests located in each state are required to calculate the 25 percent payments for the benefit of public schools and public roads.
Unlike SRS, these payments do not allow states an election to allocate funds for work similar to Title II (conservation work on national forests) or Title III (county projects for Firewise programs, emergency services or community wildfire protection plans) authorized in the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, USDA noted in a news release.
USDA explained that in the late 1980s, due largely to declines in timber sale receipts, 1908 Act payments began to drop significantly and fluctuate.
In 1994, Congress responded by providing “safety net payments” to counties in northern California, western Oregon and western Washington.
In 2000, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act that provided enhanced, stabilized payments to more states. It also created a forum for community interests to participate collaboratively in the selection of natural resource projects on the national forests, and has assisted in community wildfire protection planning.
This is the first year since then that the act was not reauthorized.
▪ USDA U.S. Forest Service — 2014 vs. 2015 Payments for Roads and Schools
The 1908 Act requiring 25 percent payments from receipts from national forests in each state is permanent law, and will guide 2014 distribution of payments.
This year, the estimated total amount of all 25 percent payments to all eligible states is about $50 million, compared to around $300 million available for the entire SRS program last year.
USDA also released a list of the funding amounts by state. (See link)
Vilsack noted that the Obama administration supported a five-year reauthorization of the program to transition payments to counties in the fiscal year 2015 president’s budget, but since it was not reauthorized, payments revert to the permanent law.
Seven-year rolling averages of receipts from national forests located in each state are required to calculate the 25 percent payments for the benefit of public schools and public roads.
Unlike SRS, these payments do not allow states an election to allocate funds for work similar to Title II (conservation work on national forests) or Title III (county projects for Firewise programs, emergency services or community wildfire protection plans) authorized in the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, USDA noted in a news release.
USDA explained that in the late 1980s, due largely to declines in timber sale receipts, 1908 Act payments began to drop significantly and fluctuate.
In 1994, Congress responded by providing “safety net payments” to counties in northern California, western Oregon and western Washington.
In 2000, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act that provided enhanced, stabilized payments to more states. It also created a forum for community interests to participate collaboratively in the selection of natural resource projects on the national forests, and has assisted in community wildfire protection planning.
This is the first year since then that the act was not reauthorized.
▪ USDA U.S. Forest Service — 2014 vs. 2015 Payments for Roads and Schools
