The Bush administration slashes public services for rural America

The Secure Rural Schools Act and Community Self-Determination Act (SRS) expired last September. Since 2000 the program has provided $2.9 billion to 800 rural counties in 41 states to fund programs such as land and water restoration, infrastructure maintenance, and forest ecosystem enhancement. But the lion’s share of the funding went to support schools, roads and the general funds of the counties in which these forests are located.

The Act was dropped from the proposed 2007 budget last year due to concerns over funding for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the escalating federal deficit.

A last-ditch attempt to extend SRS for this year was incorporated into the $122 billion emergency supplemental appropriations bill passed last month by Congress. The dire consequences of the Act’s expiration became apparent after President Bush pledged to veto the bill because it contained a timeline for the withdrawal of some troops from Iraq.

Passed in 2000, SRS provided regular funding to the counties where the federal government had established national forest lands. SRS evolved from programs originally established in 1908 and 1937 to compensate—as well as gain support from—rural communities for the loss of the tax base on lands that went to form national forests. In return the government committed a percentage of the income from timber and other resource sales to these communities.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2007/may2007/rura-m02.shtml