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Monongahela Forest for Sale?: About 5,000 Acres Are in Federal Bull S Eye to Fund the Secure Rural Schools Act

Posted on: Saturday, 11 February 2006, 12:00 CST

By Rick Steelhammer, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.

Feb. 11--The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to sell more than 250,000 acres of national forest land, including 4,836 acres in West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest, to pay for reauthorizing a law that provides extra funding for schools and roads in counties in which national forests are located.

Since 1908, 25 percent of revenues from Forest Service timber sales, grazing fees and mineral leases have been returned to counties encompassing national forest property.

Because the payments -- designed to offset the loss of school and road revenue from property taxes due to government land ownership -- fluctuated over time, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools Act in 2000 to stabilize payments as timber harvest receipts decreased.

The proposed sell-off of national forest land apparently is designed to continue the Secure Rural Schools Act beyond 2006. According to the Forest Service, the Bush administration's fiscal 2007 budget would permit the Secure Rural Schools Act payments to continue, with one key modification: They would be financed through the sale of national forest property.

On Friday, the Forest Service posted on its Web site (www.fs.fed.us) the properties being considered for sale. Among properties on the list were the nearly 5,000 acres of Monongahela National Forest land, including 1,649 acres in Randolph County, 1,171 in Tucker County, 1,376 in Pendleton County and 458 acres in Pocahontas County.

According to a Forest Service news release, a notice will be published in the Federal Register at the end of February requesting public comments. At that time, detailed maps of the tracts being proposed will be available.

"This proposed land sale could have irreversible consequences for West Virginia, leaving us with far fewer acres to hunt, fish and enjoy nature," said Rep. Nick J. Rahall, in response to the Forest Service announcement.

Rahall said timber-sale receipts and funds from the general treasury have been used to fund the Secure Rural Schools Act from 2000 to 2006. Last year, Rahall said, Pocahontas County received $485,000 for its school system through the program, accounting for about 5 percent of its operating budget.

But Rahall said Agriculture Secretary Mark Rey has stated that funding the program using proceeds from a sell-off of national forest lands would provide counties with only about half the revenue they received for schools and roads during the past five years.

Rahall said the Forest Service's announcement came two months after public outcry from outdoors enthusiasts forced the abandonment of a public-lands sale in the West.

"The administration is playing a shell game with these vital funds, undermining the guarantee of a fair return for these communities," Rahall said. "It is unacceptable to break this promise to rural communities who rely on these funds to provide adequate schools and safe roads for their residents."

Rahall is co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools Act, set to expire this year.

To contact staff writer Rick Steelhammer, use e-mail or call 348-5169.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Charleston Gazette

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