Forest land sale proposed again

By Linda Bell
Correspondent

Using another tack to fund the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, the President's proposed Forest Service budget for fiscal year 2008 includes a plan to sell about 175,000 acres of National Forest System lands around the nation for a total of $800 million.

A similar initiative proposed in the 2007 budget would have sold 304,000 acres of national forest land, but it failed to get Congressional approval. Larimer County Commissioner Kathay Rennels said at the time that the plan could put the public in the position of having to find ways to buy back land it already owns.

Reghan Cloudman, information officer for the Canyon Lakes Ranger District, said the current proposed sale includes 36 parcels for a total of 3,700 acres within the district. A total of 16,000 acres could be for sale in the entire Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland, she said.

The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 was passed to provide transitional assistance to rural counties affected by the decline in revenue from timber harvest on federal lands. The SRS authorization ended on Sept. 30, 2006.

The National Forest Land Adjustment for Rural Communities Act - as the FY 2008 Budget Proposal Act is titled - would authorize a reliable source of funding for a four-year extension of SRS. The administration recommends selling the public lands and directing 50 percent of land sale receipts to remain within the state they were collected, to be used for the acquisition of land and access for the National Forest Service System, conservation education, and wildlife and fish habitat restoration.

For more information and access to maps to view parcels that are listed, go to the web site www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/rural_schools.shtml.

The National Forest Land Adjustment for Rural Communities Act is not open to public comment per se but will have to pass through both the Senate and House budget committees before being enacted into law.