President Obama’s 2012 budget proposal calls for a five-year extension of an act that provides funding to historically forest-dependent communities that have been impacted over the last several decades by downturns in the forest products industry.
The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 was enacted to provide temporary funding to help rural communities make the transition through stark changes in the natural resource economy, particularly in forest-dependent communities of the western U.S. Under the act, rural counties receive funding from the federal government for schools, roads and other projects.
“The Secure Rural Schools Act has kept many of our culturally rich and historically significant western communities afloat without having to rely on timber harvests,” says USDA Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment Harris Sherman. “It’s imperative that we continue this program and protect these American communities.”