Enrolled HJR 29: Urging the United States Congress to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.
00Enrolled HJR 29 01 Urging the United States Congress to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and Community 02 Self-Determination Act of 2000. 03 _______________ 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS, in 1908, the United States Congress enacted 16 U.S.C. 500 (National 06 Forest Receipts Program), which required 25 percent of annual income earned from activities 07 on national forest land to be shared with states for distribution to cities and boroughs in which 08 the land is located for the benefit of education and roads; and 09 WHEREAS, in 1986, changes in the approach to managing our national forests 10 seriously curtailed the ability of forest communities to harvest forest products and resulted in 11 steep declines in forest revenue paid to affected communities; and 12 WHEREAS, in the early 1990s, the United States Congress recognized that the 13 decision to secure and retain land in federal ownership would deprive the communities in 14 which the land is located of revenue otherwise received if the land were in private ownership; 15 and 16 WHEREAS the enactment of P.L. 106-393, 16 U.S.C. 500 note (Secure Rural 17 Schools and Community 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 the National Forest Service controls approximately 22,000,000 acres of 04 land in the state; and 05 WHEREAS many of the state's rural communities are nestled in the Tongass National 06 Forest and the Chugach National Forest; and 07 WHEREAS there continues to be little privately owned land in those forest 08 communities on which to pursue economic development activities, and the communities 09 therefore remain largely dependent on revenue generated from national forests; and 10 WHEREAS the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 11 expired on September 3, 2015, and has not been permanently reauthorized; and 12 WHEREAS the United States Congress temporarily extended the Secure Rural 13 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 for federal fiscal years 2017 and 14 2018; and 15 WHEREAS education is one of the critical services supported by the Secure Rural 16 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000; and 17 WHEREAS failure to permanently reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and 18 Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 will have a devastating effect on many forest 19 communities across America, especially communities in this state, and will severely affect the 20 public education of students living in those forest communities; 21 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that the 22 United States Congress pass and the President sign into law a long-term reauthorization of the 23 Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000; and be it 24 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the United 25 States Congress to pass H.R. 2340 or S. 1027 to extend, or legislation to permanently 26 reauthorize, the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. 27 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President 28 of the United States; the Honorable Sonny Perdue, United States Secretary of Agriculture; the 29 Honorable Betsy DeVos, United States Secretary of Education; the Honorable Lisa 30 Murkowski, Chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. Senate; the 31 Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senator, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative,
01 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 115th United 02 States Congress.