00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 24                                                                     
01 Urging the United States Congress to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and                                           
02 Communities Self-Determination Act of 2000.                                                                             
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS, in 1908, the United States Congress enacted 16 U.S.C. 500 (National                                    
05 Forest Receipts Program), which required 25 percent of annual income earned from activities                             
06 on national forest land to be shared with states for distribution to cities and boroughs in which                       
07 the land is located for the benefit of education and roads; and                                                         
08       WHEREAS, in 1986, changes in the approach to managing our national forests                                      
09 seriously curtailed the ability of forest communities to harvest forest products and resulted in                        
10 steep declines in forest revenue paid to affected communities; and                                                      
11       WHEREAS, in the early 1990s, the United States Congress recognized that the                                   
12 decision to secure and retain land in federal ownership would deprive the communities in                                
13 which the land is located of revenue otherwise received if the land were in private ownership;                          
14 and                                                                                                                     
15       WHEREAS the enactment of P.L. 106-393, 16 U.S.C. 500 note (Secure Rural                                         
16 Schools and Communities Self-Determination Act of 2000), temporarily stabilized national                                

01 forest revenue payments to forest communities and replaced much needed financial support                                
02 for education and roads; and                                                                                            
03       WHEREAS many of the state's rural communities are nestled in the Tongass National                               
04 Forest and the Chugach National Forest; and                                                                             
05       WHEREAS there continues to be little privately owned land in those forest                                       
06 communities on which to pursue economic development activities, and the communities                                     
07 therefore remain largely dependent on revenue generated from national forests; and                                      
08       WHEREAS P.L. 106-393 (Secure Rural Schools and Communities Self-                                                
09 Determination Act of 2000) expires in 2011; and                                                                         
10       WHEREAS education is one of the critical services supported by P.L. 106-393; and                                
11       WHEREAS failure to reauthorize and extend P.L. 106-393 will have a devastating                                  
12 effect on many forest communities across America, especially communities in this state, and                             
13 will severely affect the public education of students living in those forest communities;                               
14       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that the                                 
15 United States Congress and the President sign into law a long-term authorization of the                                 
16 Secure Rural Schools and Communities Self-Determination Act of 2000.                                                    
17       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
18 the United States; the Honorable Arne Duncan, United States Secretary of Education; the                                 
19 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the                                          
20 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress;                                 
21 and all other members of the 112th United States Congress.