Wrangell Sentinel -

U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski introduced legislation last week to extend the life of two initiatives that direct millions of dollars in payments to support local employment in rural schools, borough maintenance programs, forest management and other critical borough programs.

As the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Murkowski worked with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and others for months to negotiate an agreement.

Senator Mark Begich is a co-sponsor of the bill.

In a press release issued by Sen. Murkowski’s office, the plan would extend for five years the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act – a program that supports counties that rely economically on national forest lands, though payments to counties would be gradually reduced at a rate of 5 percent each year for the next five years.

The proposal by Murkowski also fully-funds the Payments in Lieu of Taxes program for an additional five years. In Alaska, PILT compensates boroughs for Federal land that cannot be a source of property taxes. 

Wrangell Mayor Jeremy Maxand says the plan is good news for the borough.

“This is good because the funding we get through this may not be eliminated,” Maxand said. “The annual incremental reduction is not great news, but at least we’re back in the fight for funding with this.”

Sen. Murkowski said the extension of the program will be good for Alaskans, but is only a short-term fix for what used to be the economic lifeblood of the state – timber.

“Until Congress can return federal land management to a system where our forests generate the jobs and economic activity they once did, Secure Rural Schools provides crucial funding to keep whole some of our most remote communities,” Sen. Murkowski said. “I support this legislation as a temporary fix, fully aware that the only permanent solution is for the Forest Service to reinstate regular timber sales to provide some economic benefit to the communities within the national forest system.”

The continuance of the PILT program is also important to the boroughs and communities in Alaska that rely on it as a funding mechanism.

“The PILT program was put in place to compensate communities with federal lands within their jurisdictions for lost tax revenue,” Sen. Murkowski added. “Since I don’t expect Congress to grant local municipalities the right to tax federal lands, I see no reason why we should not continue funding this program for the foreseeable future.”

The 2008 reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools program provided more than $1.75 billion to counties across the country, including more than $250 million in collaborative forest and watershed restoration, wildfire risk reduction, and other community forestry programs.

The Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Program supports local public schools, funds county road improvement and maintenance projects, creates jobs conducting forest restoration and improvement projects in and around National Forests, and supports local initiatives to reduce the risk from wildfires.