Political Quotes

“The Twenty-Five Percent Fund Act of 1908 required 25 percent of tax receipts of timber harvested from U.S. national forests to be returned to the counties where the tax receipts originated. Since local property taxes cannot be levied on Federal lands, these dollars along with payment in lieu of taxes, or PILT, funding are critical for counties located in national forests and other Federal lands. This is because the 1908 law specifies that they directly support local schools and road activities in national forests. Unfortunately, timbering has dramatically decreased in the National Forest System since the late 1980s. According to the Forest Service, the agency was annually harvesting over 12 billion board feet by the end of the 1980s, but today, this amount has decreased to less than 2 billion board feet per year. Make no mistake, timbering activities, such as removing unhealthy wood waste and potential fire fuel, plays a fundamental role in the core mission of the Forest Service and lends the forest health. Leading up to the turn of the century, declining timber production has resulted in less forest management and, therefore, decreased forest health, fewer local employment opportunities, and dramatically less funding for schools and roads in forested communities. As a result, the Secure Rural Schools program was created in 2000 to help offset the lack of funding for essential local activities.…”