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By Kimberly Beltran
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
Hundreds of rural school districts across the U.S. – including many in northern California – are breathing a sigh of relief this week following Congress’s long-awaited extension of a program that provides $328 million to support schools, road services and other government programs in these isolated communities.
In approving H.R. 527 late last week, Congress extended the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act for one additional year. The program allows forested counties and public schools within those counties to receive payments based on pre-2000 levels of timber harvesting activity on federal lands.
“Congress’ approval of H.R. 527 is much-appreciated,” Sierra County Supervisor Lee Adams, who also serves as second vice chair of the Rural County Representatives of California, said in a statement. “This federal funding program reflects a near one-hundred year commitment that Congress made to the nation’s forested counties. With one more year of secured funding, we can now begin to look at a long-term solution to fix our national forests.”
The funding is crucial to rural counties, according to RCRC, as it supports vital classroom instruction and county road programs. Had Congress not re-authorized the rural school money for 2013, California’s already struggling rural counties and schools would have lost nearly $33 million.
The passage of H.R. 527 coincides with the U.S. House of Representatives’ earlier approval of H.R. 1526, the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act.
The bill still needs passage by the U.S. Senate.
H.R. 1526 attempts to create a mechanism to manage federal forests in order to minimize wildfires, increase timber