“Managers are people who do things 'right', but leaders are people who do the 'right thing'". Lee Heinrich

Failure to pass legislation would have dramatic, negative effects on rural schools and counties.

Cascade Idaho, September 25, 2006 — Valley County Commissioner Phil Davis and Lois Van Hoover joined nine other Idahoans and more than 200 school board members, school superintendents, county commissioners and other local leaders from 23 states around the country in Washington D.C. recently to call on Congress to pass a one-year reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools and Communities Determination Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-393) before it adjourns for the year.

“All counties in Idaho are on record as being strongly supportive of fully funding the approval of this Act as well as developing a long-term solution”, reiterated Phil Davis, Chairman Valley County Board of County Commissioners and a Team Leader for the Fly-In. “P.L. 106-393 should be extended so it can continue to benefit forest counties, their schools, and continue to contribute to improving the health of our National Forests whole we seek the long-term solution.”

“Craig/Wyden is a remarkable success story. These funds have restored and sustained essential county infrastructures such as county schools and county roads through Title I. Essential forest improvement projects have been completed through Title II projects funded by forest counties, and planned by diverse stakeholder-RAC committees”, recapped Lee Heinrich.

In Washington D.C., our local delegates joined with other local officials as part of a fly-in organized by the National Forest Counties & Schools Coalition, a national organization representing 1,500 local, state and national organizations around the country.

When Congress created the Forest Service earlier in the previous century, one of the side effects was that it denied many rural communities a significant portion of their potential tax base that they used to fund public roads and schools. To solve this problem, Congress mandated that 25 percent of all revenue generated from the national forests would be shared with the counties where those monies were generated. This historic compact was one of the first revenue sharing project approved by Congress. However, beginning in the 1980s, the amount generated by these forests began to decline – dropping more than 85 percent between 1986 and 2005. This created a financial crisis for many rural forest communities around the country.

In 2000, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools and Communities Determination Act to provide a safety net for these communities. Over the past six years, this Act has provided billions of critical dollars to support rural education, search and rescue organizations, road maintenance and the development of community fire plans for 800 rural counties and 4,400 rural school districts. However, the Act expires on September 30, 2006, with final payments going out beginning in October.

“Many Members of Congress like to talk about the importance of education,” continued Robert E. Douglas, president of the National Forest Counties & Schools Coalition, an organization representing 1500 local, state and national organizations around the country that organized the press conference. “This is an opportunity to match their rhetoric with action. As an educator in Tehama County, California, I see this as an issue of equity; providing rural students with the same opportunity to learn as their suburban and urban compatriots. Without this funding, No Child Left Behind becomes an empty campaign slogan, not a promise.”

In addition to the Capitol Hill meetings, our local delegates heard from Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) and Representatives Greg Walden (R-Oregon), Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon), Charles Taylor (R-North Carolina), John Peterson (R-PA) and Darlene Hooley (D-OR) and several local government officials from around the United States at a rally about the importance of reauthorizing the Act.

Over the life of the legislation, the Act has provided more than $2 billion to rural communities and school districts since 2001.

# # #