Forest health bill passes House
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September 26, 2013 |
By Congressman Raul Labrador
Last week, the House passed legislation I’ve
been championing for the past three years to
empower Idaho’s rural communities by allowing
greater state involvement in managing our
forests.
The bill we passed — H.R. 1526, the Restoring
Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act —
incorporates an earlier bill I introduced,
H.R.1294, the Self-Sufficient Community Lands
Act.
What my bill does is transfer the management of
about 200,000 acres of federal land in Idaho to
the state as a trust. By enabling the state to
manage this land in accordance with state forest
statutes, such as the Idaho Forestry Act, we
will experience greater economic growth and
healthier, more vibrant forests. Now, with the
House’s passage of H.R. 1526 we are one step
closer to making that a reality.
The concept for my bill sprang from my
involvement with a bipartisan group of county
commissioners in Idaho. Their goal, which was
the same as mine, was simple: To rejuvenate the
economy in Idaho’s rural communities. Those
communities have been struggling for decades.
That’s because their greatest asset — their
timber — is being held captive by the federal
government. Washington bureaucrats and
environmental organizations have crippled the
timber industry through overregulation and
litigation. Their policies have caused an 80
percent decline in timber harvests over the past
30 years. Not only has unemployment skyrocketed,
but counties that depend on timber receipts to
fund schools, roads and daily operations have
become desolate and broke.
The Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program was
created in 2000 to help counties fund the
services they could no longer afford because of
lost tax revenue. Thirty-five of 44 Idaho
counties receive SRS payments, and we rank third
in the country in total SRS dollars. But the
program was always intended as a stopgap measure
until Congress created a more permanent
solution. Since day one, SRS has generated
tremendous uncertainty at the county level. And
now, with record deficits, the SRS model is no
longer sustainable. So long as the program is
tied to federal policies that prevent us from
developing our own land, it prevents us from
achieving a true solution. Last year, authority
for the program expired.
The time has come to put our people and our land
back to work. That means getting the federal
government out of the way and empowering Idaho’s
forest communities to manage their own land. By
re-establishing local control over some of our
state’s most valuable resources, we will bolster
the economy and create much-needed jobs. That,
in turn, will create the additional tax revenues
that are needed to improve schools, roads and
local services. Last but not least, we will also
improve forest health and reduce the threat of
catastrophic wildfires.
When it comes to preventing wildfires, the
difference between the stewardship of state
lands in Idaho and the stewardship in adjoining
federal lands is astonishing. Last year, 1.5
million acres burned in Idaho during a record
fire year. Of those acres, only 4,674 were on
state managed lands. The remainder was on
federally managed lands. There is no question in
my mind that putting more federal land under
state control will result in healthier forests
and less-damaging wildfires. I’m excited that
the bill we passed last week will advance that
process tremendously.
The legislation we passed is a huge win for
Idaho’s rural communities, and I’m hopeful the
Senate will pass it too. On these types of
issues, as with so many others, the government
closest to the people governs best. By putting
the people of Idaho in charge, and reducing our
dependence on Washington, we will create a
better and brighter future for our people. |
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