WASHINGTON - The Bush administration, under fire for proposals to sell federal lands to fund a rural school program, said Tuesday that local governments and land trusts will be given the first shot at purchasing the property.
Environmental groups and legislators in western states have complained loudly about the plan in President Bush's proposed 2007 budget. The proposal calls for selling off forests to raise money for the education program, which would then be phased out over five years.
Local governments and land trusts would have the right of first refusal in the sales, provided that they pay "fair market value," said Mark Rey, an agriculture undersecretary.
"Some of the sites in question...do not any longer meet national forest system needs, but that's not the same as not meeting public needs generally," Rey said, citing some areas where people can still picnic and hike.
This way, Rey said, the lands would remain publicly owned, if not by the federal government.
Congress still must consider the plan.
The service wants to sell parcels of lands that do not connect to greater federal holdings. The list will continually change, but as it stands now, almost 80,000 acres in California would be on the auction block, along with 25,464 acres in Idaho and 21,572 acres in Colorado.
Rey said lands taken out of public hands would be balanced by areas the federal government is buying under the 2006 budget or hopes to buy in 2007.
While the list of eligible lands for sale encompasses more than 300,000 acres, Rey said the service may not sell that much. Once the goal of $800 million has been reached, he said, the sales would be suspended. He estimated that only 175,000 acres would have to be sold.
Opponents say there are other ways to raise money.
"This administration is under-funding schools and to make up for that they want to sell off lands in a one-time deal," said Rob Vandermark, forests director of National Environmental Trust.
The congressional delegation from Montana, where roughly 14,000 acres of land are considered eligible for auction, has taken a bipartisan stand against the deal.
In 2000 then President Clinton signed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, which created federal funding for schools in rural areas from timber sales and Bureau of Land Management revenues.
The law was supposed to "sunset" in 2006. Bush's plan, Rey said, would continue some funding although it would "ramp down" the amounts over five years.
Sen. Conrad Burns, a Republican from Montana, said the government could renew the original law, making a phase out of the program unnecessary. He declined to comment on changes to the forest service's plan until he had learned more about them, his spokesman said.
Rey said that he'd heard concerns from members of Congress, but said there were no other alternatives for funding rural schools.
Story by Lisa Lambert
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
