Congress debates fate of two programs that provide money to forested areas

Congress is debating the fate of two programs that have sent billions of federal dollars to forested parts of rural America since the 1970s and helped impoverished communities build schools, roads and provide other essential services, reports Raju Chebium of the Gannett Co. Washington Bureau.

Chebium writes that lawmakers are deciding whether to extend the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act and Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTS) programs, under which heavily forested rural jurisdictions in every state got a total of $684 million last year - $291 million for schools and $393 million to make up for lost tax revenues. The programs affect 729 counties, mainly in the West.

"Democrats urged Congress to temporarily renew the two programs" at a Senate committee hearing yesterday, Chebium writes, "but Republicans said Congress may need to hand over the forests to state and local officials and lift federal regulations that critics claim have devastated small towns and villages across the U.S."

Secure Rural Schools ensures that counties can count on funding for schools and roads, make additional investments in projects that enhance forest ecosystems, and improve cooperative relationships, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

PILOTs are considered a means to partially offset property-tax revenue forgone because the nonprofit’s property is tax-exempt, or are thought of as contributions to cover the nonprofit’s share of the cost of public services provided by municipalities that are normally funded with property taxes, according to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.