A deal President Theodore Roosevelt made to create the national parks is coming undone, and while that is sad, it is also heartening that it remained in place a hundred years; and maybe rural schools (as urban schools have) do need to consolidate more.
Rural schools brace for losses in forest fight
By Jane Braxton Little - Bee Correspondent
Published 12:00 am PST Friday, February 9, 2007
California rural school officials, facing a dramatic drop in funding, predict layoffs and shuttered classrooms as Western lawmakers and the Bush administration fight over a plan to sell federal timberland to prop up education in small communities.
As it did last year, the White House has proposed compensating rural communities dominated by U.S. Forest Service ownership with revenue from the sale of 300,000 acres of national forest.
Debate last year over the president's plan engulfed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, which from 2000 to 2006 had enjoyed bipartisan support. That funding was headed for reauthorization when the White House announced its plan to raise $800 million by selling national forests. Action extending the annual funding was delayed and the law expired. Rural schools in California lost $69.6 million.
This week critics again promised a fight over Bush's renewed call for timberland sales. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein called it "a terrible idea."
