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 Representative Steve Daines today secured a commitment from the United States Forest Service that funds allocated to Montana counties through the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program will not be subjected to sequester cuts in 2014.

“Sequester will not apply to the FY14 payments,” Robert Bonnie, United States Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment, confirmed under Daines’ questioning during this morning’s Natural Resources Committee Oversight hearing on the Obama administration’s application of sequestration to the SRS program and its cost to states and rural counties. 

Daines noted that the SRS program, which has already experienced significant reductions in recent years, is set to expire at the end of the year—making it difficult for Montana counties to pay for critical community services, including education, infrastructure maintenance and forest projects. 

Daines also called on the Senate to take up his forest management legislation, the Restoring Healthy Forests for Healthy Communities Act (H.R. 1526), which extends the SRS program for another year. H.R. 1526 was recently passed by the House with bipartisan support. 

“Absent this legislation, our Counties will be back at square one—facing questionable reauthorization of SRS funds without long term sustainability,” Daines stated.

Last year, after distributing Title I and III SRS payments, the Forest Service announced on March 19 that it would apply sequestration to the SRS program and distributed letters to states requesting the return of $17.9 million in funds that had already been paid out. In August, Montana was informed that $1.3 million from its anticipated Title II payment would be withheld to cover the Forest Service’s decision to apply sequestration retroactively. 

“The cuts were frustrating. But our counties were most concerned about the uncertainty,”Daines noted during today’s hearing. “Our county commissioners work hard trying to put certainty in what is a rather uncertain equation coming out of Washington, as these sequester cuts are being implemented. Frankly, our county commissioners and leaders were flabbergasted when they heard the sequester would be applied retroactively, and this places our county commissioners in a very difficult position as it relates to budgeting for the year.”

Daines also noted that H.R. 1526 puts in place long-term forest management reforms to help forest counties benefit from a revitalized timber economy and works to maintain forest health. 

“It will extend SRS payments for another year while we transition to start addressing the root cause, which is healthier forest management, and allow our forest counties—of which there are a lot in Montana— to benefit from the revenue generated and all of the jobs and additional tax revenue from a better timber economy and better forest management principles—healthier forests, lessening the risk of wild fires,” Daines added.

Bonnie agreed that long-term reforms to forest management and funding for rural counties are needed, stating that “we need to find a long-term solution” to the challenges facing National Forests and forest counties.

“We need to increase the amount of work we’re getting done in the woods, I fully support that,” Bonnie added.

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